Gaza toll hits 342 on day 12, UN chief heads to region

July 20, 2014 02:48 am | Updated December 03, 2021 05:13 pm IST - Gaza/Jerusalem

An Israeli artillery crew near the Israel and Gaza border prepares to fire towards Gaza on Saturday.

An Israeli artillery crew near the Israel and Gaza border prepares to fire towards Gaza on Saturday.

Israel on Saturday pressed on with its lethal ground offensive and intensive airstrikes across Gaza, killing 46 Palestinians including children in one of the bloodiest days of fighting as the death toll rose to 342 with the U.N. chief set to visit the region.

Israeli tanks plunged deeper into Gaza and the fighting against Hamas led to a high toll of casualties and a doubling of displaced Palestinians to 40,000, as Gaza’s bloodiest conflict since 2009 showed no signs of let-up on its 12th day.

The latest deaths include two girls aged two and six years old in Gaza’s northern Beit Hanun and a 16-year-old in southern Gaza’s Rafah. A 20-year-old man died in Khan Yunis also in southern Gaza.

The death toll in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group ruling Gaza, on Saturday increased to 342 |-- nearly a fourth of them being under the age of 18.

Israel’s ground operation followed 10 days of air strikes on Gaza, which failed to stop Hamas’s rockets from reaching across the border.

Three Israelis, including a soldier, have also died since the Operation Protective Edge campaign began on July 8.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was to arrive in the region soon to revive a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Mr. Ban’s visit would aim to help Israelis and Palestinians “end the violence and find a way forward”, UN political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman said.

“Israel has legitimate security concerns, and we condemn the indiscriminate rocket fire from Gaza into Israel. But we are alarmed by Israel’s heavy response,” Mr. Feltman said.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri on Saturday repeated a call for the two sides to adopt its cease—fire initiative, saying it is the only offer on the table.

However, Mr. Netanyahu has warned of a “significant expansion” of the offensive and Hamas said Israel would “pay a high price” for the invasion.

Hamas terrorists attempted to infiltrate Israel via an underground tunnel and kill civilians in an Israeli community, a few kilometres from Gaza.

Troops killed a Palestinian militant who tunnelled into southern Israel, but others managed to withdraw into Gaza, an army statement said.

“Several terrorists infiltrated Israel through a tunnel from the central Gaza Strip,” it said, adding that they fired a machine gun and anti-tank missile at an army patrol.

Troops “returned fire, killing a terrorist and forcing the rest back into Gaza.”

Hamas use such tunnels to infiltrate Israel as it did in 2006 when soldier Gilad Shalit was kidnapped by the terrorist outfit.

According to UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), about 50,000 Palestinians are staying in UN shelters.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.