Israeli troops briefly raid Gaza as offensive rages
Four Israeli soldiers were hurt in clashes during the brief incursion to destroy a rocket launching site in northern Gaza, the military said. It said the troops later returned to Israeli territory.
Israeli strikes on Gaza killed a teenage boy and a woman on Sunday, medics said, raising the overall death toll to 165 as the punishing air campaign entered its sixth day.
According to emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra, one strike on the northern town of Jabaliya struck a house, killing a 14-year-old boy.
Shortly afterwards, another strike killed a woman in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, he said.
Elsewhere, a man injured in an earlier strike died of his wounds, hiking the toll to 165, Qudra said.
More than 1,000 people have been injured.
Witnesses in the southern city of Rafah also reported seeing gunmen killing a man in the middle of the street in what appeared to be the execution of someone suspected of collaborating with Israel. There was no immediate claim of responsibility from any of Gaza’s armed factions.
Saturday was the bloodiest day by far of the operation, with 52 people killed.
The deadliest strike was in Gaza City just before midnight (2100 GMT) in the eastern Tuffah district where 18 people were killed in strikes that hit the house of Hamas police chief Tayseer al-Batsh and a mosque, medics said.
Batsh survived but was reportedly in critical condition, with around 50 people injured in the strikes.
Israel began Operation Protective Edge before dawn on Tuesday in an attempt to halt cross-border rocket fire by militant groups.
Since then, approximately 655 rockets have hit Israel, while another 170 were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system, the army said on Sunday. Since midnight, 22 rockets struck Israel, while another five were shot down.
No Israelis have been killed, and only two people have been badly hurt since the start of the operation, medics said.
By Sunday morning, the Israeli military said it had struck 1,320 “terror targets” across Gaza, including 735 rocket launchers, 64 training bases and militant compounds, and 32 Hamas leadership facilities.
More than 20 targets were hit overnight, the army said.
At the United Nations, a Security Council statement approved by all 15 members called for de-escalation of the violence, restoration of calm, and a resumption of direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians aimed at achieving a comprehensive peace agreement based on a two-state solution.
The statement also called for "the reinstitution of the November 2012 cease-fire," which was brokered by Egypt, but gives no time frame for when it should take effect.
The statement, which is not legally binding, is the first response by the U.N.'s most powerful body, which has been deeply divided on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Arab League meanwhile said foreign ministers from member states will hold an emergency meeting in Cairo on Monday about the offensive.
The statement also called for "the reinstitution of the November 2012 cease-fire," which was brokered by Egypt, but gives no time frame for when it should take effect.
The statement, which is not legally binding, is the first response by the U.N.'s most powerful body, which has been deeply divided on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Arab League meanwhile said foreign ministers from member states will hold an emergency meeting in Cairo on Monday about the offensive.
© AFP
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