"It is impossible to bring peace under these circumstances."
Mahmoud Abbas, commenting on the latest Israeli massacre in Gaza.
In all, 16 Palestinian fighters and three civilians, including a 65-year-old man, were killed by the time the operation wound up in early afternoon, militants and doctors said. Forty-eight people were wounded, among them an 8-year-old boy who was seriously hurt, medical officials said.
Dr. Moaiya Hassanain of the Gaza Health Ministry said many of the dead and wounded lost limbs. Because of the high number of casualties, Hassanain questioned whether Israeli troops were using tank-fired flechette shells, an anti-personnel weapon that throws out thousands of metal darts.
The military had no immediate comment on whether such munitions were used.
Shifa Hospital put out a radio call for blood donations because of the large number of wounded.
The Hamas government called a three-day mourning period, and ordered flags on all government buildings to be lowered to half staff. Hamas called for a general strike in Gaza and the West Bank on Wednesday to protest the heavy number of deaths.
Dozens of acres of farmlands planted with olive trees, cucumbers, tomatoes and squash were destroyed during the operation. The used car market in Gaza was struck by three tanks shells that damaged two buildings.
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