'Modern Family' actress to remain with adult sister for now

Teen actress Ariel Winter of "Modern Family" will remain with her sister under temporary guardianship, and a trial has been scheduled to decide her future home, a judge ruled Tuesday.

L.A. County Superior Court Judge Michael Levanas said a county Department of Children and Family Services report found that allegations that Winter's mother emotionally abused her were substantiated, while the department found physical abuse allegations inconclusive.

The judge on Oct. 3 temporarily stripped Chrisoula Workman of custody of her daughter. Winter, through her sister's attorney, alleged in a court filing that she was subject to ongoing physical and mental abuse by her mother. Workman has denied all accusations of abuse and filed more than two dozen declarations from friends, acquaintances, stylists and others saying they never witnessed any abuse.

"I would love to have my daughter home," Workman said outside of court Tuesday. "I love her with all my heart."

Winter's father, Glenn Workman, also filed an objection to the guardianship late Monday, stating that he wants a better relationship with his daughter and would be willing to care for her. He is currently not living with Chrisoula Workman.

Winter, 14, has been in the care of her adult sister, Shanelle Gray, who was also removed from Chrisoula Workman's care in the 1990s amid accusations of abuse.

Winter has been acting since she was 7 and currently stars as Alex Dunphy on the hit ABC series "Modern Family."

"Minor Ariel Workman has been a victim of on-going physical abuse (slapping, hitting, pushing) and emotional abuse (vile name-calling, personal insults about minor and minor's weight, attempts to sexualize minor, deprivation of food etc.) for an extended period of time by the minor's mother, Chrisoula Workman," her attorneys said in a petition for guardianship.

A trial to determine whether Gray gains permanent guardianship of her sister has been scheduled for Dec. 12. But Levanas said the case would be removed from his courtroom if the Department of Children and Family Services filed its own case.

"I am sure this family is going to get better," the judge said.

Three days after Winter, whose real name is Ariel Workman, took legal action to split from her mother, Chrisoula Workman reported to the sheriff's Crescenta Valley station that her daughter's boyfriend had had unlawful sex with the underage actress.

Chrisoula Workman contends that she discovered her daughter in the guest bedroom of her Montrose home on Sept. 24 in bed with a young man, believed to be 18, according to sources not authorized to discuss the investigation.

The young man was described as the teenage actress' boyfriend of several months, according to the sources, who also said the teenagers have denied doing anything unlawful.

Outside court Tuesday, Winter's brother Jimmy Workman said his teenage sister "doesn't want rules and wants to be able to date" whom she wishes. He said he hopes his sister will be reunited with their parents.

andrew.khouri@latimes.com

Times Staff Writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.

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Hamas Strengthens as Palestinian Authority Weakens

RAMALLAH, West Bank — In the daily demonstrations here of solidarity with Gaza, a mix of sympathy and anguish, there is something else: growing identification with the Islamist fighters of Hamas and derision for the Palestinian Authority, which Washington considers the only viable partner for peace with Israel.

“Strike a blow on Tel Aviv!” proclaimed the lyrics of a new hit song blasting from shops and speakers at Monday’s demonstration, in a reference to Hamas rockets that made it nearly to Israel’s economic and cultural capital. “Don’t let the Zionists sleep! We don’t want a truce or a solution! Oh, Palestinians, you can be proud!”

Pop songs everywhere are filled with bravado and aggression. But this one reflects a widespread sentiment that does not augur well for President Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority, which is rapidly losing credibility, even relevance. The Gaza truce talks in Cairo, involving Egypt, Turkey and Qatar, offer a telling tableau. The Palestinian leader seen there is not Mr. Abbas, but Khaled Meshal, the leader of the militant group Hamas, who seeks to speak for all Palestinians as his ideological brothers in the Muslim Brotherhood rise to power around the region.

Israel is also threatening Mr. Abbas, even hinting that it may give up on him, as he prepares to go to the United Nations General Assembly on Nov. 29 to try to upgrade the Palestinian status to that of a nonmember state. The Israelis consider this step an act of aggression, and even some Palestinians say it is somewhat beside the point at this stage.

“His people are being killed in Gaza, and he is sitting on his comfortable chair in Ramallah,” lamented Firas Katash, 20, a student who took part in the Ramallah demonstration.

For the United States, as for other countries hoping to promote a two-state solution to this century-old conflict, a more radicalized West Bank with a discredited Palestinian Authority would mean greater insecurity for Israel and increased opportunity for anti-Western forces to take root in a region where Islamism is on the rise.

Since Hamas, which won parliamentary elections in 2006, threw the Fatah-controlled authority out of Gaza a year later, Mr. Abbas has not set foot there. Yet he will be asking the world to recognize the two increasingly distinct entities as a unified state.

Manar Wadi, who works in an office in Ramallah, put the issue this way: “What is happening in Gaza makes the Palestinian Authority left behind and isolated. Now we see the other face of Hamas, and its popularity is rising. It makes us feel that the Palestinian Authority doesn’t offer a path to the future.”

In Cairo on Monday, Mr. Meshal seemed defiant and confident in his new role, daring the Israelis to invade Gaza as a sixth day of Israeli aerial assaults brought the death toll there to more than 100 people, many of them militants of Hamas and its affiliates. Rockets launched from Gaza hit southern Israel, causing some damage and panic, but no casualties, leaving the death toll there at three.

“Whoever started the war must end it,” Mr. Meshal said at a news conference. “If Israel wants a cease-fire brokered through Egypt, then that is possible. Escalation is also possible.”

Officials in the authority have been holding leadership meetings, staying in close touch with the talks in Cairo and issuing statements of solidarity. They have also sent a small medical delegation to Gaza and argue that there is a new opportunity to forge unity between the two feuding movements. But they are acutely aware of their problem.

“The most dangerous thing is the fact that what we could not do in negotiations, Hamas did with one rocket,” one official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “The people had such excitement seeing the occupiers run in panic. It’s a very dangerous message.”

Mr. Abbas, whose popularity has been on the decline as the Palestinian Authority faces economic difficulty and growing Israeli settlements, also ran into trouble not long before the Gaza fighting began when he seemed to give up on the Palestinian demand of a right of return to what is now Israel.

Many Palestinians believe that Israel launched its latest operation in Gaza to block the Palestinian Authority’s United Nations plans by embarrassing it. Israeli officials say that is ridiculous: the operation’s purpose is to stop the growing number of rockets being fired at their communities, and Israelis interrupted their deliberations over the United Nations bid to wage the military campaign.

But Israel says anything that does not involve direct negotiations is a waste of time. The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly threatened to take severe retaliatory steps against the Palestinian Authority, including cutting off badly needed tax receipts to Palestinian coffers, should Mr. Abbas go ahead at the United Nations.

In a speech here on Sunday night at a Palestinian leadership meeting, Mr. Abbas repeated his determination to go to New York and ask for a change in status to that of nonmember state. He has chosen the symbolically significant date of Nov. 29, when the General Assembly voted in 1947 to divide this land into two states, one Jewish and the other Palestinian Arab.

The United States has asked Mr. Abbas not to do so, but instead to resume direct negotiations with Israel, which have essentially been frozen since 2008.

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New push for most in US to get at least 1 HIV test

WASHINGTON (AP) — There's a new push to make testing for the AIDS virus as common as cholesterol checks.

Americans ages 15 to 64 should get an HIV test at least once — not just people considered at high risk for the virus, an independent panel that sets screening guidelines proposed Monday.

The draft guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force are the latest recommendations that aim to make HIV screening simply a routine part of a check-up, something a doctor can order with as little fuss as a cholesterol test or a mammogram. Since 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also has pushed for widespread, routine HIV screening.

Yet not nearly enough people have heeded that call: Of the more than 1.1 million Americans living with HIV, nearly 1 in 5 — almost 240,000 people — don't know it. Not only is their own health at risk without treatment, they could unwittingly be spreading the virus to others.

The updated guidelines will bring this long-simmering issue before doctors and their patients again — emphasizing that public health experts agree on how important it is to test even people who don't think they're at risk, because they could be.

"It allows you to say, 'This is a recommended test that we believe everybody should have. We're not singling you out in any way,'" said task force member Dr. Douglas Owens, of Stanford University and the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System.

And if finalized, the task force guidelines could extend the number of people eligible for an HIV screening without a copay in their doctor's office, as part of free preventive care under the Obama administration's health care law. Under the task force's previous guidelines, only people at increased risk for HIV — which includes gay and bisexual men and injecting drug users — were eligible for that no-copay screening.

There are a number of ways to get tested. If you're having blood drawn for other exams, the doctor can merely add HIV to the list, no extra pokes or swabs needed. Today's rapid tests can cost less than $20 and require just rubbing a swab over the gums, with results ready in as little as 20 minutes. Last summer, the government approved a do-it-yourself at-home version that's selling for about $40.

Free testing is available through various community programs around the country, including a CDC pilot program in drugstores in 24 cities and rural sites.

Monday's proposal also recommends:

—Testing people older and younger than 15-64 if they are at increased risk of HIV infection,

—People at very high risk for HIV infection should be tested at least annually.

—It's not clear how often to retest people at somewhat increased risk, but perhaps every three to five years.

—Women should be tested during each pregnancy, something the task force has long recommended.

The draft guidelines are open for public comment through Dec. 17.

Most of the 50,000 new HIV infections in the U.S. every year are among gay and bisexual men, followed by heterosexual black women.

"We are not doing as well in America with HIV testing as we would like," Dr. Jonathan Mermin, CDC's HIV prevention chief, said Monday.

The CDC recommends at least one routine test for everyone ages 13 to 64, starting two years younger than the task force recommended. That small difference aside, CDC data suggests fewer than half of adults under 65 have been tested.

"It can sometimes be awkward to ask your doctor for an HIV test," Mermin said — the reason making it routine during any health care encounter could help.

But even though nearly three-fourths of gay and bisexual men with undiagnosed HIV had visited some sort of health provider in the previous year, 48 percent weren't tested for HIV, a recent CDC survey found. Emergency rooms are considered a good spot to catch the undiagnosed, after their illnesses and injuries have been treated, but Mermin said only about 2 percent of ER patients known to be at increased risk were tested while there.

Mermin calls that "a tragedy. It's a missed opportunity."

___

Online:

Task force recommendation: http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org

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Dancing with the Stars: Couples Perform Crazy Combinations in Semi-Finals

TV Watch

Dancing With the Stars

By Aaron Parsley

11/19/2012 at 11:05 PM EST

Shawn Johnson and Derek Hough

Craig Sjodin/ABC

It's the semi-finals!

The remaining five couples on Dancing with the Stars faced two rounds of competition on Monday. First, the pairs performed mixed-up routines, blending uncommon styles with unusual themes. Then, they celebrated the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson's hit album Bad with more traditional ballroom numbers.

Keep reading for all the details and scores ...

Melissa Rycroft & Tony Dovolani
Last week's top scorers kicked off the night with a caveman hustle. "Fred and Wilma have never danced so well," Len Goodman said, while Bruno Tonioli said they lost footing during the turns. They scored a 27.5. But their red-hot Argentine tango to "Dirty Diana" was a perfect 30. "That was beyond anything I could have imagined for you," a thrilled Carrie Ann Inaba said. "I would be really disappointed if you're not here next week," Len added.

Shawn Johnson & Derek Hough
Hough said he would rather put mustard on ice cream than combine their Knight Rider theme with the Bhangra style. But the judges ate up the routine – and awarded the pair a perfect 30. In round two, their Argentine tango sparked disagreement on the panel. Bruno and Len held up 10s but Carrie Ann knocked off a point. "Every line was perfect, but dance is sometimes more than just movement and I thought that you lacked the real passion of the Argentine tango," she said.

Apolo Ohno & Karina Smirnoff
Their big top jazz routine was another sticking point for Carrie Ann and Bruno. She found the mime-themed dance "very disjointed," "out of sync" and "quite sloppy." He found it "edgy, surreal" and a "great mixture of jazz movement." They earned 27 points. But there was no arguing over their rumba to "Man in the Mirror," which earned a perfect 30. "It was like the sea," Len said. "There was wave after wave of effortless motion. There was a subtlety to it, there was a calmness. It captivated. It was fabulous."

Emmitt Smith & Cheryl Burke
The goal of their espionage lindy hop was to be cartoonish. Though that was tough for the former Dallas Cowboy, the judges were pleased and awarded the pair 27 points. "It was like a Looney Tunes version of James Bond," Bruno said. "It was the most fun performance I've seen you do." Their tango to "Leave Me Alone" was more of a challenge, but Len still gave Smith credit: "You've coped marvelously well with two dances that didn't really suit you," he said.

Kelly Monaco & Val Chmerkovskiy
Their surfer flamenco was super sexy – Val ended up in nothing but Speedo! – but the judges had issues with their technique, and handed out only 25.5 points. "It had a lot of aggression and a lot of fire. But the flamenco has very, very exact placement and it wasn't there," Bruno said. Carrie Ann called it "robotic." But they added 28.5 points with a romantic rumba to "I Just Can't Stop Loving You." "That was smoldering, driven by desire, consumed by lust," Bruno said. "The chemistry between you two is literally singeing."

Two couples are heading home Tuesday night, leaving just three to compete in next week's finale. Who deserves a chance at the mirror-ball trophy? Discuss in the comments below.

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Santa Monica may bar Nativity scenes in public areas, judge rules

Santa Monica may bar Nativity and other seasonal displays in public spaces, a federal judge tentatively ruled Monday.

In a case that has drawn national attention, Judge Audrey B. Collins of U.S. District Court in Los Angeles denied a church coalition's request that the court require the city to allow Nativity scenes to be displayed in Palisades Park this year, as it has for nearly 60 years.

"The atheists won on this," said William J. Becker Jr., an attorney for the Santa Monica Nativity Scenes Committee, a coalition of 13 churches and the Santa Monica Police Officers Assn. Standing in front of TV news cameras outside the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building, Becker predicted that the court on Dec. 3 would also grant the city's request that his group's lawsuit be dismissed.

That likely outcome, he said, marked "the erosion of 1st Amendment liberty for religious speech." He compared the city to Pontius Pilate, the judge at Jesus' trial, saying: "It's a shame about Christmas. Pontius Pilate was exactly the same kind of administrator."

Atheist groups praised the judge's ruling as an example of the upholding of the separation of church and state.

"Religion is innately divisive and just doesn't belong in public parks," said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Madison, Wis. "There are tax-exempt churches on every other corner. Why isn't that good enough?"

Charles C. Haynes, senior scholar at the First Amendment Center and director of the Newseum's Religious Freedom Education Project in Washington, called Collins' decision "consistent with other rulings."

"It's all or nothing in these cases," he said. "If the government opens up and creates a limited forum, it can't practice viewpoint discrimination. But it can say, well, we're not going to have any.... There has to be a level playing field in the public sphere."

Since 1953, the coalition each December has erected a tableau of scenes depicting the birth of Jesus Christ.

A few years ago, the tradition offended Damon Vix, an atheist, who applied to put up a booth next to the Nativity story. Last year, he encouraged other atheists to flood the city with applications, including a satirical homage to the "Pastafarian religion" featuring a representation of the "Flying Spaghetti Monster."

To keep things fair and legal, the city held a lottery to parcel out slots. Atheists won 18 of 21 spaces. A Jewish group won another. The Nativity story that traditionally took up 14 displays was jammed into two.

A flap ensued. Vandals ripped down a banner the Freedom From Religion Foundation had hung at the park. The banner began: "At this season of the winter solstice, may reason prevail."

Last June, concerned that the lottery would become increasingly costly because of the rising tensions, the City Council voted to ban all private, unattended displays in city parks. The city has cited other reasons for the prohibition, including damage to the park's turf and some residents' statements that they would prefer unobstructed ocean views to seasonal displays.

Council members and the city attorney's office said groups wishing to celebrate the Nativity, the winter solstice or Hanukkah had alternatives. They could, for example, erect displays on private property or station a representative at any display on public ground.

In October, the coalition filed suit, seeking to restore the tradition. At the time, Becker said it was "not the government's function to avoid controversy at the cost of fundamental rights."

Barry A. Rosenbaum, with the Santa Monica city attorney's office, said the city was pleased with the ruling. The judge, he said, "understood the government interests."

Becker said he would consult with his "brain trust" to determine what step the coalition would take if the judge grants the city's motion to dismiss. He said he and his clients might consider an appeal, perhaps next year or at some future time when the city government pendulum "would swing back and we'd be back in a sane society where people are tolerant and respect each other for their religious views."

martha.groves@latimes.com

jessica.garrison@latimes.com

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Syria Assails Foreign Support for Rebels

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Senior Syrian officials lashed out on Sunday at foreign governments that have recognized the opposition, while armed skirmishes around the country included a fresh salvo across the border with Israel.

The information minister, Omran al-Zoubi, accused France, Turkey and Qatar of supporting “terrorism” in Syria by extending diplomatic recognition to the new National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, including the acceptance of an official envoy in Paris, according to a summary of his remarks carried by SANA, the official news agency.

The new coalition does not represent anybody, Mr. Zoubi said, calling it a creation of the foreign states and thus ineligible to participate in any national dialogue.

In Tehran, Iran held a meeting on Sunday of about 200 members of the officially sanctioned opposition, but no members of the new coalition were invited. It was unclear who those attending actually represented.

Iran has backed the government of Syria, its most important Arab ally, throughout the conflict, reportedly providing arms and training for government forces.

On the sidelines of the conference, Ali Haidar, Syria’s minister of national reconciliation, told Agence France-Presse that France was acting as if it wanted to re-establish its colonial occupation of Syria.

The government of President Bashar al-Assad has said from the start of the crisis in March 2011 that it would engage with its opposition, but it has sought to handpick the participants in any negotiations. As the death toll has grown to 40,000, much of the opposition in exile and in Syria has rejected negotiations with Mr. Assad.

Iran’s foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, also addressed the gathering, warning that outside interference could incite violence throughout the region. Arming the opposition would only aggravate the crisis, SANA quoted him as saying.

France broached the idea last week of lifting the arms embargo on Syria, saying it was studying the idea of helping the rebels. In general, Western nations have avoided providing weapons.

There were reports on Sunday of a minor exchange of fire across the border with Israel in the Golan Heights, the third such episode reported this month, and of an artillery shell landing in Jordan.

Small-arms fire from Syria hit a military vehicle on the Israeli side on Saturday without causing any casualties, and Israel responded with artillery, according to news agency reports that quoted the Israeli Army.

There may have been Syrian Army casualties, said Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the chief Israeli Army spokesman, but he said that could not be confirmed. There was no immediate comment from Syria, which demands the return of the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since 1967, but has long kept the border quiet.

The Local Coordinating Committees, a network of opposition activists who monitor the conflict in Syria, reported that stray shelling in the southern province of Dara’a had landed in Jordan.

Both Syria’s official media and the opposition also reported fierce skirmishes in Damascus, Aleppo, Deir al-Zour and other cities.

The Free Syrian Army captured more than 10 tanks after taking a regimental headquarters in Aleppo Province that it had besieged for weeks, according to the Local Coordinating Committees.

Fighting also continued around Bukamal, SANA reported, with government troops inflicting “painful blows” by killing and wounding “dozens” of opposition fighters in the town, which is near Deir al-Zour.

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EU drug regulator OKs Novartis' meningitis B shot

LONDON (AP) — Europe's top drug regulator has recommended approval for the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Novartis AG.

There are five types of bacterial meningitis. While vaccines exist to protect against the other four, none has previously been licensed for type B meningitis. In Europe, type B is the most common, causing 3,000 to 5,000 cases every year.

Meningitis mainly affects infants and children. It kills about 8 percent of patients and leaves others with lifelong consequences such as brain damage.

In a statement on Friday, Andrin Oswald of Novartis said he is "proud of the major advance" the company has made in developing its vaccine Bexsero. It is aimed at children over two months of age, and Novartis is hoping countries will include the shot among the routine ones for childhood diseases such as measles.

Novartis said the immunization has had side effects such as fever and redness at the injection site.

Recommendations from the European Medicines Agency are usually adopted by the European Commission. Novartis also is seeking to test the vaccine in the U.S.

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Justin Bieber Brings His Mom to the American Music Awards

By Maggie Coughlan

11/18/2012 at 09:35 PM EST

Pattie Mallette and Justin Bieber

Jonathan Alcorn/Reuters/Landov

Mother knows best!

Despite his recent split from Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber still had a date for the 40th American Music Awards on Sunday: his mother, Pattie Mallette.

Malette – who recently penned Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom – looked thrilled to pose for photographs with her son.

When Bieber won the first award of the night, for favorite pop/rock male artist, his proud mother, 38, beamed.

"I want to say this is for all the haters who thought I was just here for one or two years. I feel like I'm going to be here for a very long time," the singer said as he accepted the award.

The award was a highlight during a rocky week for Bieber, who on Friday reunited with Gomez, 20, for dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Los Angeles. But just five minutes after entering the restaurant, the couple emerged with Gomez looking visibly "mad," says a source.

Later that night, Bieber Tweeted "Things aren't always easy. there is a lot of pressure. im figuring it all out. im trying. but i care, i notice, i still hear u. #Beliebers."

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Medal of Honor decision for San Diego Marine may be revealed soon

A memorial for Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta was set up by his family in their San Diego home in 2004. A dispute about whether Peralta, 25, a Mexican immigrant, deserves the Medal of Honor remains one of the last pieces of unfinished business from the U.S. involvement in Iraq. (Glenn Koenig, Los Angeles Times / December 1, 2004)

By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times

November 19, 2012

Eight years ago this month, Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta of San Diego was killed in Iraq during the battle for Fallouja, the bloodiest house-to-house fighting involving Marines since Vietnam.

A dispute about whether Peralta, 25, a Mexican immigrant, deserves the Medal of Honor remains one of the last pieces of unfinished business from the U.S. involvement in Iraq.

The Marine Corps nominated Peralta for the Medal of Honor. But then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates in 2008 downgraded the award to the Navy Cross — upsetting the Marines and Peralta's family.

Now, Gates' successor, Leon Panetta, appears on the verge of announcing the result of his review of Gates' decision, based on a video of the aftermath of the house-clearing mission in which Peralta was killed.

Whether Panetta will uphold or reverse Gates' decision is unknown. Medal of Honor decisions are some of the most closely held secrets in the military.

The Marines who were with Peralta that day are unanimous in their view that, although he lay mortally wounded, he reached out and smothered an enemy grenade, saving the lives of several Marines.

But a pathologist report suggested Peralta was already clinically dead from friendly fire and could not have consciously smothered the grenade. For that reason, Gates declined to approve the Medal of Honor nomination.

But Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine), who served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Marine officer, believes the newly uncovered film shows Peralta's body did not have the bruising that would be consistent with the pathologist's view of how he died.

Hunter has persisted in pushing Panetta to review his predecessor's decision. Hunter believes Panetta's decision will be announced within weeks.

"The only reasonable course of action, in light of his sacrifice and new evidence, is to award [Peralta] the military's highest award for combat valor," Hunter said Friday.

tony.perry@latimes.com

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Israel Steps Up Aerial Strikes in Gaza

Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

A man injured by bombing in the Zaitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on Saturday that also killed one person.

GAZA CITY — Israel broadened its assault on the Gaza Strip on Saturday from mostly military targets to centers of government infrastructure, obliterating the four-story headquarters of the Hamas prime minister with a barrage of five bombs before dawn.

The attack, one of several on government installations, came a day after the prime minister, Ismail Haniya, hosted his Egyptian counterpart in that very building, a sign of Hamas’s new legitimacy in a radically redrawn Arab world. That stature was underscored Saturday by a visit to Gaza from the Tunisian foreign minister and the rapid convergence in Cairo of two Hamas allies, the prime minister of Turkey and the crown prince of Qatar, for talks with the Egyptian president and the chairman of Hamas on a possible cease-fire.

But as the fighting ended its fourth day, with Israel continuing preparations for a ground invasion, the conflict showed no sign of abating. Gaza militants again fired long-range missiles at Tel Aviv, among nearly 60 that soared into Israel on Saturday. Israel said it hit more than 200 targets overnight in Gaza, and continued with afternoon strikes on the home of a Hamas commander and on a motorcycle-riding militant.

The White House reiterated its strong support for Israel, with Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser, describing rocket fire from Gaza as “the precipitating factor for the conflict.”

“We believe Israel has a right to defend itself, and they’ll make their own decisions about the tactics that they use in that regard,” Mr. Rhodes told reporters on Air Force One en route to Asia.

Hamas health officials said 45 Palestinians had been killed and 385 wounded since Wednesday’s escalation in the cross-border battle. In Israel, 3 Israeli civilians have died and 63 have been injured. Four soldiers were also wounded on Saturday.

Two rockets were fired at Tel Aviv on Saturday. One landed harmlessly, probably at sea. The other was intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system in the sky above the city. An Iron Dome antimissile battery had been hastily deployed near the city on Saturday in response to the threat of longer-range rockets.

Since Wednesday, Iron Dome has knocked 245 rockets out of the sky, the military said, while 500 have struck Israel. The American-financed system is designed to intercept only rockets streaking toward towns and cities and to ignore those likely to strike open ground.

There have been failures — on Saturday a rocket crashed into an apartment block in the southern port city of Ashdod, injuring five people — but officials have put its success rate at 90 percent.

Analysts said there is no clear end to the conflict in sight, since Israel neither wants to re-engage in Gaza nor to eliminate Hamas and leave the territory to the chaos of more militant factions.

“Ultimately,” said Efraim Halevy, a former chief of Israel’s intelligence service, “both sides want Hamas to remain in control, strange as it sounds.”

But Mkhaimar Abusada, a political science professor at Al Azhar University here, cautioned that “there is no military solution to the Gaza problem.”

“There has to be a political settlement at the end of this,” he said. “Without that, this conflict is just going to go on and on.”

President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt said late Saturday night that “there could be a cease-fire soon,” after he and other members of his government spent the day in meetings with the Turkish premier, the Qatari prince, the political leaders of Hamas and other Gaza factions. But Mark Regev, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, denied reports that a truce was imminent.

It was unclear whether the deal under discussion would solely suspend the fighting or include other issues. Hamas — which won elections in Gaza in 2006 and took full control in 2007 but is considered a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States — wants to turn its Rafah crossing with Egypt into a free-trade zone and seeks Israel’s withdrawal from the 1,000-foot buffer it patrols on Gaza’s northern and eastern borders.

Mr. Rhodes said the Turkish and Egyptian leaders “have the ability to play a constructive role in engaging Hamas and encouraging a process of de-escalation.”

Mr. Netanyahu, for his part, spoke with the leaders of Britain, Germany, Italy, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, according to a statement from his office.

Jodi Rudoren reported from Gaza City, and Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem. Reporting was contributed by Fares Akram and Tyler Hicks from the Gaza Strip, Carol Sutherland and Iritz Pazner Garshowitz from Jerusalem, and David D. Kirkpatrick and Mayy El Sheikh from Cairo.

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