COUNTDOWN TO INVASION

Key fighters killed as 300 air strikes hit Gaza. Trickle of aid as civilian hell continues

- CHRIS HUGHES

ISRAEL stepped up military manoeuvres around Gaza yesterday and pounded Hamas positions with 300 overnight air strikes as the world awaited a devastating ground offensive.

The blitz was claimed to have killed "dozens" of key Hamas fighters, with a "rocket team" kingpin from the terror network believed to be among them.

But civilian suffering was appalling and one medic at central Gaza's al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said: "We don't have enough shrouds for the bodies because the numbers are huge.

"Bodies are arriving in parts. We can't identify them because the bodies have been disfigured and crushed." Targets in the West Bank were also bombed for the first time in 20 years.

In a further sign that Hamas can expect no mercy, Israel's Mossad and Shin Bet intelligence agencies have formed an elite revenge squad called

"the Nili" to hunt down every Hamas fighter who took part in the October 7 atrocity that sparked the conflict.

The build-up happened as Gaza's Egypt crossing was opened again, allowing a trickle of 17 aid trucks into the besieged Palestinian enclave which needs 100 deliveries a day.

Sources said the US is pressing Israel to delay invading, to get more aid in and free hostages.