Israeli aircraft hit more than 70 targets in Gaza
Israeli airstrikes pummeled a wide range of targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday as the U.N. chief and the U.S. secretary of state began an intensive effort to end more than two weeks of fighting that has killed at least 570 Palestinians and 29 Israelis.
Overnight, Israel bombed five mosques, a sports complex and the home of the late Hamas military chief, a Gaza police official said.
The Israel military announced early Tuesday that two more soldiers had died, one from sniper fire on Monday and one from still unexplained causes, bringing the military death toll to 27. It’s the highest number of Israeli military fatalities for any campaign since the 2006 Lebanon war. Two Israeli civilians have also been killed in the latest conflict.
The airstrikes set off huge explosions that turned the night sky over Gaza City orange early Tuesday. The sound of the blasts mixed with the thud of shelling, often just seconds apart, and the pre—dawn call to prayer from mosque loudspeakers.
The strikes came as U.N. chief Ban Ki—moon and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met in Cairo late Monday to launch the highest—level push yet to end the deadly conflict. The U.N. has said that the majority of the Palestinians killed were civilians, among them dozens of children.
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli aircraft hit more than 70 targets, including the home of the late leader of Hamas’ military wing, five mosques and a sports complex, said Gaza police spokesman Ayman Batniji. There were no casualties in the mosques or at the sports complex, which includes a gym, three martial arts studios and a soccer field.
Tank shells also damaged several houses along the eastern border of the territory, he said. At least 19 fishing boats were burned by Israeli navy shells fired from the Mediterranean Sea, Batniji added.
Six upper floors of a Gaza high—rise collapsed onto the two lower stories, buckling them into rubble. At the scene, construction company owner Ehab Batch, 40, and several of his workers were trying to retrieve documents from what had once been the company’s 2nd floor offices.
Batch, who said he had had no work in the past year because Egypt had blocked border tunnels that bring in construction material, said Gaza needs an immediate cease—fire and a deal that would open all border crossing points.
“We need Gaza people to have a (normal) life, as all the people in the world,” Batch said.
Among the facilities hit overnight were three homes, including one where three women from the same family perished, according to Gaza health official Ashraf al Kidra.
But prospects for a truce remained elusive.
Egypt, Israel and the U.S. back an unconditional cease—fire, to be followed by talks on a possible new border arrangement for Gaza. Israel and Egypt have severely restricted movement in and out of Gaza since Hamas seized the territory in 2007.
The top Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, said Monday that Gaza’s 1.7 million people share Hamas’ goal of forcing Israel and Egypt to lift the blockade.
“We cannot go back, we cannot go back to the silent death” of the blockade, he said. “Gaza has decided to end the blockade by its blood and by its courage.”
After a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri, Ban said that “violence must stop by all sides,” and that they must enter negotiations, apparently siding with Cairo’s approach.
“We can’t claim victory simply by returning matters to where they stood before they led to terrible bloodshed,” Ban said.
The border blockade has set Gaza back years, wiping out tens of thousands of jobs through bans on most exports and on imports of vital construction materials Israel says could be diverted by Hamas for military use. Israel allows many consumer goods into Gaza, but experts say Gaza’s economy cannot recover without a resumption of exports.
The Rafah passenger crossing with Egypt is Gaza’s only gate to the world, but Egypt has tightened restrictions over the past year, allowing only medical patients, Muslim pilgrims and Gazans with foreign passports to travel.
On Monday, President Barack Obama reaffirmed his belief that Israel has the right to defend itself against rockets being launched by Hamas into Israel. Yet, he contended that Israel’s military action in Gaza had already done “significant damage” to the Hamas terrorist infrastructure and said he doesn’t want to see more civilians getting killed.
On arriving in Cairo, Kerry announced the U.S. will send $47 million in humanitarian aid for tens of thousands of Palestinians who fled their homes in the coastal territory to escape the violence. Kerry’s top aides warned, however, that achieving an immediate and lasting cease—fire would be difficult and he hoped to make any progress over the next several days to secure even a temporary pause in the bloodshed.
It’s not clear exactly what Israel and Hamas would each demand in return for agreeing to a truce now, but senior State Department officials said the issue of opening border crossings potentially into Israel and Egypt was under discussion.
“We will work to see if there is some way to not only arrive at a cease—fire of some kind but to get to a discussion about the underlying issues,” Kerry said at the start of his meeting with Ban. “Nothing will be resolved by any cease—fire, temporary or long, without really getting to those issues at some point and that’s what we need to do.”
Kerry remained in Cairo on Monday for more meetings with top Egyptian officials. But there were no immediate plans for face—to—face meetings with officials from Qatar, Turkey, Israel and the West Bank.
