GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli warplanes pounded the homes of Hamas leaders, and ground troops edged closer to the Gaza Strip's densely populated urban center today, as Israel stepped up the pressure ahead of deciding whether to escalate its devastating two-week offensive.

From downtown Gaza City, black smoke could be seen rising over the eastern suburbs, where the two sides skirmished throughout the night. At least six Palestinians were killed in the new airstrikes or died from their wounds today, Gaza health officials said. One of the dead was a militant killed in a northern Gaza battle.

Despite the tightening Israeli cordon, however, militants still managed to fire off at least four rockets this morning. There were no reports of injuries, though one rocket scored a direct hit on a house in the southern city of Ashkelon.

The army announced Sunday it had begun sending reserve units into Gaza to assist thousands of ground forces already in the territory. The use of reserves is a strong signal Israel is planning to move the offensive, which already has killed some 870 Palestinians, into a new, more punishing phase.

PAREPARE, Indonesia — Huge waves and driving rain hindered rescuers today as they searched for about 250 people missing and feared dead after a ferry packed with passengers and cargo capsized in a cyclone off Indonesia's Sulawesi island.At least 23 people have been rescued so far and one body found.Many passengers were sleeping when the 700-ton Teratai Prima was struck by tropical cyclone Charlotte before dawn Sunday, officials and witnesses said. It sank about 30 miles off the coast of western Sulawesi.The ferry was slammed by 13-foot-high waves, said survivor Daeng Gassing, who arrived today with other survivors in the port of Parepare — where the ferry journey began. He said he awoke about 10 minutes before it went down. The boat had been traveling to Samarinda on the Indonesian half of Borneo island.The captain — who also survived — was being investigated for allegedly ignoring warnings from the Indonesian weather agency that conditions on the crossing were too dangerous, Transport Minister Jusman Syafi'i Djamal said.