Summary Hamas rulers Thursday said they would not consider a truce with Israel for now.
Israeli planes pounded Gaza and militants fired hundreds of rockets into the Jewish state.
"We will not be exposed to further tricks by the occupation. We consider talk of a truce at this time an attempt to provide more cover for the continuation of the escalation on Gaza," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said at a press conference.
The usual cacophony of Gaza s streets has been replaced by an eery quiet, broken only by the whoosh of rockets, the crash of air strikes and screeching ambulances taking the wounded to hospital.
Since an Israeli air strike killed a top Hamas commander in Gaza City on Wednesday afternoon, marking the start of a massive aerial bombing campaign, the city s residents have largely taken refuge at home.
Streets that are normally clogged by trucks and cars, competing for space and raising clouds of dust and noise, are virtually empty.
And with schools throughout Gaza closed, the usual crowds of undersized children struggling with oversized backpacks are nowhere to be seen.
Instead, the only crowds are those gathered in mosques mourning the dead, or queuing outside bakeries to stock up on bread.
"I circled around for two hours, looking for a place with the shortest line," said Momen Ahmed, 24, standing outside the Abu Dayya bakery with his friends.
"To be honest, there s no food crisis, and the interior ministry went on television to say there s more than enough food, that we have plenty. But we think it s better not to take the chance."
