FACE OF FIGHTBACK Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike on Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza Strip on Saturday. (Reuters)

Gaza City, Dec. 27: The danger of cross-border terror igniting a full-blown conflict exploded on the world today with Israel killing 205 Palestinians in a ferocious wave of air strikes to avenge militant rocket attacks over the past week.

Warplanes and helicopters pounded dozens of security compounds and killed scores of personnel and civilians across Gaza Strip, ruled by militant group Hamas, whose retaliatory missile salvos into Israel killed a man and wounded several.

The West Asian blitz comes in the middle of a tense standoff between India and Pakistan over the Mumbai attacks in which too Israelis were killed.

Tel Aviv’s strike-back threatens to keep America’s hands full at a time it is scrambling to defuse tensions in the subcontinent, wage a war on terror in Afghanistan and Iraq and battle an unprecedented economic downturn at home.

The Israeli fusillade, stunning in its swiftness and scale even by the country’s record of ruthless retribution, is certain to whet the appetite for a similar response to Pakistan in sections in India that are chafing at US calls for restraint.

But two key factors set West Asia and the subcontinent apart. Hamas, unlike Pakistan, lacks a full-fledged regular army backed by a competent air force, although it and its allies are believed to have 35,000 guerrillas. More important, both India and Pakistan are nuclear-armed, which adds an explosive element to even a limited conflict.

Delhi today urged an immediate end to the use of force against Palestinian civilians while saying it understood the provocation for Israel.

The raid, which left over 300 wounded and gave Palestinians their bloodiest day in more than 20 years, came after Hamas rained 200 mortars and rockets in the past week on Israel, which faces elections in six weeks.

Israeli sources said the operation could “last a long time” and later include ground forces, possibly to target Hamas leaders who went into hiding two days ago. Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since June 2007, threatened Israel with “hell” — a likely hint at suicide bombings.

Smoke billowed over Gaza City, whose 120 dead lay scattered with the wounded after more than 30 air strikes destroyed security buildings, weapons depots and training compounds. A strike on a graduation ceremony at police headquarters killed 40, including new recruits and the police chief. Another 23 died in Khan Younis and Rafah.

Hamas said over 100 personnel were killed, including the head of security and protection, along with civilians who included at least 15 women and several children.

Although Tel Aviv had been threatening retaliation for the Hamas shelling — which failed to kill or seriously wound any Israeli — the timing surprised Gazans. It came before noon, when offices and security compounds were full and children were in school.

Women rushed onto streets frantically looking for their children. Said Masri, 57, sat in the middle of a street, alternately slapping his face and covering his head with dust from a bombed-out building.

“My son is gone, my son is gone,” wailed the shopkeeper, who said he had sent his nine-year-old son out to buy cigarettes. “May I burn like the cigarettes, may Israel burn.”

The US asked Hamas to halt cross-border strikes and urged Israel to avoid civilian casualties but did not call for an end to the air strikes. Moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who now rules only over the West Bank, called for restraint.