Eight children killed as Israeli warplanes relentlessly bomb Gaza – photos
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Palestinians at a hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip mourn around the body of a Palestinian fighter killed
in an Israeli air strike, 6 July.
Less than two weeks after concluding its largest military assault on the occupied West Bank in more than a decade, Israel has relentlessly pounded the besieged Gaza Strip since Monday.
The ongoing bombing campaign is the most severe violence inflicted by Israel on Gaza since its eight-day assault in November 2012, during which more than 150 Palestinians were killed, 33 of them children.
More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, including 350 children, during Israel’s three consecutive weeks of attacks from air, land and sea during winter 2008-09.
Twenty-five lives have been claimed by Israel in Gaza since Monday, including at least eight children, as warplanes bombed areas across Gaza, whose 1.7 million Palestinian residents live under a tightly-enforced siege and are unable to flee and have nowhere to seek shelter.
Islamic Jihad commander Hafiz Hamad (30) and five members of his family — Ibrahim Hamad (26), Mahdi Hamad (46), Fawzia Hamad (62), Mehdi Hamad (16) and Suha Hamad (26) — were killed in an Israeli air strike on their Beit Hanoun home in the northern Gaza Strip Tuesday evening, according to a Gaza health ministry spokesperson, the Bethlehem-based Ma’an News Agency reported.
On Tuesday afternoon, six children were killed when an Israeli missile struck the home of an alleged Hamas activist in the southern city of Khan Younis.
The human rights group Defence for Children International Palestine reports:
The five families that reside in the building evacuated immediately after an Israeli aerial
Hussein Yousef Hussein Karawe, 13, Basem Salem Hussein Karawe, 10, Mohammad Ali Faraj Karawe, 12, Abdullah Hamed Karawe, 6, and Kasem Jaber Adwan Karawe, 12, died immediately, according to evidence
DCI-Palestine confirmed two other Palestinian teenagers died in strikes across Gaza. An Israeli attack killed Ahmad
DCI-Palestine is confirming reports of at least three other children killed
Rockets
Israel’s stated objective for its intensified assault on Gaza is to halt the fire of rockets from Gaza.
But armed groups in Gaza retaliated by firing rockets aimed as far north as Haifa in the north of present-day Israel.
The Israeli daily Haaretz reports:
Meanwhile, for the first time
The eight-day assault on Gaza in November 2012, codenamed Operation Pillar of Defense, was widely viewed as a military defeat for Israel as Hamas’ armed wing was able to show deterrent strength, for the first time firing long-range rockets capable of hitting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Rocket sirens were heard in both cities on Tuesday, warning residents to take shelter.
A video uploaded to YouTube on Tuesday appears to show worshippers at al-Aqsa mosque in occupied Jerusalem chanting in praise of Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, in response to rocket sirens sounded in the city:
Haaretz reported that a rocket exploded “in an urban area in Hadera, north of Tel Aviv, further than had previously been reached,” causing no reported damage.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army claims its forces killed several Palestinian fighters who had attacked a military base inside present-day Israel via the sea.
Haaretz added: ”The government approved call-up of up to 40,000 reserve soldiers in preparation for further escalation, after the security cabinet decided on Monday to intensify attacks against Hamas.”
The Qassam Brigades on Tuesday set the conditions for the return of a ceasefire with Israel: an end to the offensive on Gaza and a commitment to the ceasefire agreement signed in November 2012, the release of all prisoners who were freed in a 2011 prisoner exchange and were since re-arrested, and an end to interference in the new Palestinian unity government formed after a reconciliation agreement was signed in April following seven years of impasse between the Fatah party in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza.
Last weekend senior Hamas official Ahmad Yousef told the Ma’an News Agency that his party was no longer responsible for preventing rocket fire toward Israel.
Ma’an reported:
Asked about increased rocket fire on Israel in recent weeks, Yousef told Ma’an Hamas was not responsible for preventing attacks.
“From a political point of view, [Prime Minister in Ramallah] Rami Hamdallah is responsible and he can give orders to security services
He said Palestinian security forces had attempted to prevent rocket
“Israeli aggression motivates some response
As the Israeli army launched a massive search campaign in the West Bank
The Israeli air force has responded with near-nightly airstrikes on the besieged coastal enclave.
Last month Israel resumed its extrajudicial execution operations in the Gaza Strip when its air force targeted a member of an armed group traveling on a motorcycle in the northern Gaza Strip, instantly killing the man. A ten-year-old bystander died of his injuries three days later. The 11 June operation was the first of its kind since early March.
Israel extrajudicially executed two additional Palestinian fighters in the occupied Gaza Strip in late June, and warplanes hit Gaza throughout the month.
For additional context and analysis, watch Gaza-based journalist Mohammed Omer, author and activist Miko Peled and The Electronic Intifada’s Ali Abunimah on Democracy Now! on Tuesday.
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Smoke and flames are seen following what police said was an Israeli air strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, 8 July.
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Palestinians inspect a car targeted in an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza City, 8 July.
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Palestinians gather around a house which police said was destroyed in Israeli air strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, 8 July. Eight persons, including six children, were killed.
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Palestinians inspect a destroyed tuk-tuk vehicle after it was targeted in an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip, 8 July.
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Paramedics at a hospital in Khan Younis treat Palestinians wounded in Israeli air strikes on a house which killed eight persons, 8 July.
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Relatives of Mohammed Shaaban, a commander in Hamas’ armed wing, mourn during his funeral in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, 8 July. Shaaban was killed when an Israeli missile hit a car in which he was riding in Gaza City.
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A Palestinian woman inspects her house which police said was damaged in an Israeli air strike on a neighboring house in Gaza City, 8 July.
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Smoke trails are seen as a rocket is launched from eastern Gaza City towards Israel, 7 July.
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The fiancee of Palestinian fighter Abdul Rahman Zamil mourns over his body at a hospital morgue in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, 7 July. Hamas’ armed wing said seven of its gunmen were killed in Israeli air strikes, making it the deadliest day for Hamas since 2012.
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A kite with the colors of the Palestinian flag is seen flying over Gaza City, 7 July.