Israel builds up forces on Gaza border

Israel massed tanks and troops on its border with northern Gaza early on Monday, pounding the area with artillery and sending warplanes to attack Gaza City.

The Israeli military has also been building up its forces along its border with southern Gaza.

Early on Monday Israeli artillery hit a house on the outskirts of the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, Palestinians said, slightly injuring one person.

Around the same time, Israeli aircraft went back into action, hitting several targets around the Gaza Strip, including a building in Gaza City where the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades has an office, Palestinians and the military said.

Al Aqsa is a violent offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement.

A missile struck the second floor of the two-story building, setting it on fire. No one was in the office at the time of the attack, after midnight.

Other targets on Monday were empty fields and a building in northern Gaza, Palestinians said.

The attacks and military build up are aimed at keeping up pressure on the Hamas-led Palestinian government and to free a soldier captured by militants last week during an assault on a military outpost in southern Israel.

Additional Israeli troops had moved into place across from northern Gaza on Sunday, showing clear preparations for an invasion.

For months, Palestinian militants have been using northern Gaza to launch homemade rockets at Israeli villages near the border fence, and Israel has been unable to stop the barrages with repeated air strikes and artillery attacks.

The movements by the Israeli military followed a earlier warning from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that he told his army to do all it could to free the soldier, 19-year-old Corporal Gilad Shalit.

Late last week Olmert called off an invasion of northern Gaza to give diplomacy a chance to work, but he signaled that Israel is running out of patience.

Egypt headed efforts to reach a solution through diplomacy, but there was no sign of progress, nor was there any concrete evidence about the condition of the Israeli soldier.

Israel refused to discuss the captive with the Palestinian militants and rejected out of hand its demand to release Palestinian prisoners.

Leaders of various Hamas branches have denied responsibility.

Israeli aircraft, gunboats and artillery have pounded the Gaza Strip since Israeli troops and tanks took up positions in southern Gaza on Wednesday.