12 July 2014, 04:19
Seven Palestinians were killed in two Israeli air strikes early Saturday, raising the death toll, after five days of violence, to 112, said Gaza health ministry spokesman, Ashraf al-Qudra. Qudra said four people died in Jebaliya, in the northern Gaza Strip, and two others further south in Deir el Balah. Then shortly afterwards, a 17-year-old was killed in a raid on Gaza City, he said.
The latest fatalities bring the death toll to 112 since Israel began ‘Operation Protective Edge’ early Tuesday in an attempt to halt cross-border rocket fire by militant groups. Since then, militants have fired about 520 mortar rounds and rockets into struck Israel, while another 140 rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, an Israeli army statement said late Friday.
It is the deadliest violence since November 2012, with a growing number of rockets fired at Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and even as far north as Haifa. So far, no Israelis have been killed.
An Israeli soldier was severely wounded in a mortar attack late Thursday, and another man was very seriously injured when a rocket hit a gas-station in the southern port city of Ashdod early Friday. Two soldiers were lightly wounded along the border with Gaza when Palestinians fired an anti-tank missile.
And an elderly woman was slightly injured when a rocket hit her home in the southern city of Beersheva. Israel has authorized the call-up of 40,000 reservist troops and threatened a ground operation to stamp out the rocket fire, reports AFP.
Gaza Strip toll hits 100 after four days of violence
Two people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the central Gaza Strip Friday, bringing the toll in four days of violence to 100, medics said.
Health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said two men were travelling in a municipality car in the Bureij area with a third man, who was seriously wounded in the strike, AFP reports.
Israel prepares for ground military operation, 98 dead in airstrikes
As the number of dead and badly injured in airstrikes in the Gaza Strip approaches 100 Friday, Israel has moved three infantry brigades to the borders of the Gaza Strip in preparation for a possible ground offense.
The buildup is to be strengthened by one or two further brigades in the coming days, said Israel military spokesman Peter Lerner. According to Palestinian sources, Israeli attacks by air have so far left 98 people dead in the Gaza Strip.
Ashraf al-Kidra, spokesman for rescue services in the Gaza Strip, said Friday that 670 people in the salient have been injured since the beginning of the Israeli offensive.
And in a sign that the conflict may be spreading, missiles were fired into Israeli territory from Lebanon for the first since Israel launched operation Protective Edge on Tuesday in response to rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. According to Lebanese security sources and the country’s state-run National News Agency (NNA), two rockets were fired by unknown militants from the outskirts of the town of Mari in Lebanon’s south-west. A third missile in the same region malfunctioned and exploded while still on the launchpad, NNA said, adding that the Lebanese army defused two more rockets.
No further details could have been obtained.
In Israel, Lerner confirmed the Lebanon attack, saying it occurred near the Israeli border town of Metullah and that Israeli artillery responded. “The Israeli army is also on the alert on the northern front,” Lerner said. There was as of yet no word as to casualties on the Lebanese border incident.
Putin calls for ceasefire in Gaza Strip in phone talk with Netanyahu
Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed the need to stop the armed confrontation in the Gaza Strip, in a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Kremlin press service reported. “A detailed discussion took place on the sharp escalation of the situation in the Gaza Strip and the south of Israel. The Russian side stressed the need for a speedy end to the armed confrontation, which has led to numerous casualties among the civilian population,” the Kremlin’s statement reads, noting that the conversation, which also touched on further bilateral contacts between the two countries, was initiated by the Israeli side.
The situation around the Gaza Strip deteriorated dramatically over the last few days.
The Israeli Army announced Tuesday the launch of a large-scale operation against Gaza Strip militants in response to continued shelling from the Palestinian side.
