Israel Widens Air Attack, Gaza Death Toll Tops 125
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) —
Israel widened its air assault against the Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers on
Saturday, hitting a mosque it said was hiding rockets, as Palestinians
said their death toll from the five-day offensive rose to over 125.
The military
said it has struck more than 1,100 targets, including Hamas rocket
launchers, command centers and weapon manufacturing and storage
facilities, in a bid to stop relentless rocket fire coming Gaza.
Officials in the territory said that besides the mosque, the strikes
also hit Hamas-affiliated charities and banks, as well as a home for the
disabled, killing two women.
The
central Gaza mosque was being used to conceal rockets like those
militants have fired nearly 700 times toward Israel over the past five
days, the military said. However, the strikes in the densely populated
Gaza Strip show the challenge Israel faces as it considers a ground
operation that could potentially pose further dangers to civilians.
While
there have been no fatalities in Israel from the continued rocket fire,
Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Kidra said overnight Israeli
strikes raised the death toll there to over 125, with more than 920
wounded.
Hamas militants have
been hit hard. Though the exact breakdown of casualties remains
unclear, dozens of the dead also have been civilians.
The
offensive showed no signs of slowing down Saturday as Israeli Defense
Minister Moshe Yaalon said his country should ready itself for several
more days of fighting.
"We have accumulated
achievements as far as the price Hamas is paying and we are continuing
to destroy significant targets of it and other terror organizations,"
Yaalon said after a meeting with top security officials. "We will
continue to punish it until quiet and security returns to southern
Israel and the rest of the country."
Hamas said it hoped the mosque attack would galvanize support for it in the Muslim world.
"(It)
shows how barbaric this enemy is and how much it is hostile to Islam,"
said Husam Badran, a Hamas spokesman in Doha, Qatar. "This terrorism
gives us the right to broaden our response to deter this occupier."
The
Israeli military released an aerial photo of the mosque it hit, saying
Hamas hid rockets in it right next to another religious site and
civilian homes. It said Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Gaza militant
groups use this tactic of abusing religious sites to conceal weapons and
establish underground tunnel networks, deliberately endangering
civilians.
"Hamas terrorists
systematically exploit and choose to put Palestinians in Gaza in harm's
way and continue to locate their positions among civilian areas and
mosques, proving once more their disregard for human life and holy
sites," said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman.
Critics though say such
allegations are too sweeping, and that Israel's heavy bombardment of one
of the densely populated territories is itself the main factor putting
civilians at risk.
Sarit
Michaeli of the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said that while
using human shields violates international humanitarian law, "this does
not give Israel the excuse to violate international humanitarian law as
well."
Israel issues early warnings before attacking Gaza targets
and the military says it uses other means to do its utmost to avoid
harming bystanders. But Michaeli said civilians have been killed when
Israel bombed family homes of Hamas militants or when residents were
unable to leave their homes quickly enough following the Israeli
warnings.
"Justifying all
Israeli attacks that lead to civilian casualties by saying Hamas is
using human shields is factually incorrect," she said.
The
rocket fire from Gaza militants appeared to tail off somewhat Saturday,
with a new round resuming later in the day. The "Iron Dome," a
U.S.-funded, Israel-developed rocket defense system, has intercepted
more than 130 incoming rockets, preventing any Israeli fatalities so
far. A handful of Israelis have been wounded by rockets that slipped
through.
The most seriously wounded
Israeli resulted from a rocket that struck a gas station Friday in the
southern city of Ashdod, setting off a huge explosion. A house in
Beersheba suffered a direct hit though the family living there was not
home.
As a precaution, the
U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv relocated its personnel assigned to Beersheba.
However, militant rockets have reached further into Israel than ever
before, with air raid sirens sounding even in the northern city of
Haifa, 100 miles (160 kilometers) away.
The
frequent rocket fire has disrupted daily life in Israel, particularly
in southern communities that have absorbed the brunt of it. Israelis
mostly have stayed close to home. Television channels air non-stop
coverage of the violence and radio broadcasts are interrupted live with
every air raid siren warning of incoming rockets.
The frequent
airstrikes have turned the normally frenetic Gaza City into a virtual
ghost town, emptying streets, closing shops and keeping hundreds of
thousands of people close to home where they feel safest from the bombs.
The
offensive is the heaviest fighting since a similar eight-day campaign
in November 2012 to stop Gaza rocket fire. The outbreak of violence
follows the kidnappings and killings of three Israeli teenagers in the
West Bank, and the kidnapping and killing of a Palestinian teenager in
an apparent revenge attack.
Israel has pummeled Gaza
at twice the rate of the 2012 operation and Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press on with the campaign until there
is a complete halt to rocket attacks from the seaside Palestinian
territory. Israel has massed thousands of troops along the border in
preparation for a possible ground invasion, with soldiers atop vehicles
mobilized and ready to move into Gaza if the order arrives.
A
senior military official said Saturday that Israel estimated Hamas
still had thousands of rockets in its arsenal and it would take Israel
more time to eliminate the threat to its civilians.
"There is no knockout. It is more complicated," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of military guidelines.
Israel
has begun coming under international pressure as Palestinian casualties
have grown. The United States and European leaders have stressed
Israel's right to defend itself, but the United Nations says it is
concerned over civilian deaths in Gaza, and anti-Israel protests have
taken place in Europe. In the West Bank, Hamas supporters clashed with
Israeli troops over the Gaza offensive.
The
Arab League said foreign ministers from member states will hold an
emergency meeting in Cairo on Monday to discuss the continued Israeli
offensive and measures to urge the international community to pressure
Israel.
Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas requested the meeting, which was approved by several Arab
foreign ministers in coordination with the Arab League. The official
spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief
journalists.
Egypt, which
historically has served as a mediator between Israel and Hamas, appears
less eager to help out this time. Hamas was particularly close to the
Muslim Brotherhood, who the current leadership banned after driving it
from power last year.
Still,
it has tried to show support for Palestinians by opening its crossing
with Gaza, allowing deliveries of food and medical supplies and
evacuation of some wounded.
____
Heller
reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Mohammed
Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank, and Maamoun Youssef in Cairo
contributed to this report.
Source:yahoo.com
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