Deaths rise in Israeli air strikes on Gaza

Up to 20 people have been killed in the deadliest night of Israeli air raids on Gaza since its current offensive began, Palestinian officials say.

The health ministry said most died in attacks on a house and a cafe in Khan Younis in the south, bringing the overall death toll to 76.

Militants in Gaza continued firing rockets into Israel on Thursday, with sirens sounding over southern towns.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned the situation was “on a knife-edge”.
‘Tap on roof’

The Israeli military said that it had attacked 108 targets since midnight and that 12 rockets had been fired at Israel, seven of them intercepted by the Iron Dome defence system.
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Guests at an Israeli wedding were among those who had to run for cover from Gaza rockets, as James Reynolds reports

Israel says its targets in Operation Protective Edge have been militant fighters and facilities including rocket launchers, weapons stores, tunnels and command centres.

The Palestinian health ministry said 17 people including five children and three women were killed in the strikes on the house and cafe in Khan Younis.

Israel has not commented on the incidents.

Elsewhere on Thursday, three people also died in an Israeli strike on a car in western Gaza City, Palestinian reports say. Reuters news agency said the victims were militants from Islamic Jihad.
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Ban Ki-moon: “The lives of countless innocent civilians and the peace process itself are in the balance”

The Palestinian health ministry said that in addition to the 76 dead, some 500 people had been injured overall.

Israel says militants have fired more than 365 rockets from Gaza since Tuesday and that it has attacked about 780 targets over the same time.

Militant rocket fire into Israel continued on Thursday, with sirens sounding across the country.

The armed wing of Hamas said it had fired two M75 rockets at Tel Aviv. Israel said Iron Dome had intercepted one.
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It also said three rockets had hit civilian communities in the Israeli Negev and several others struck the Netivot area.

Meanwhile, an Israeli military spokesman said an attack on a house in Khan Younis on Tuesday in which eight people were killed was “a tragedy – not what we intended”, adding people had returned to the building too soon following a telephone warning.

The home was said to be that of Odeh Kaware, a local Hamas commander.

Israeli sources say a second warning was given when a projectile without a warhead was fired at the building in a tactic known as a “tap on the roof”, but people went back.
Israeli troops on Gaza border 10 July Israeli leaders say a ground offensive might happen “quite soon”
The site of an Israeli strike in Gaza City, 10 July The site of an Israeli strike in Gaza City

“They were told to leave, they returned, and the missile was already on the way. It was too late,” the Jerusalem Post newspaper quoted an Israeli security source as saying.

The Palestinian Maan news agency said dozens of people had gathered on the roof after the family had been warned by Israel that the building would be targeted.

Separately, Egyptian state television said the government had decided to open the Rafah border crossing on Thursday to evacuate some of those wounded in the Israeli attacks.

Hospitals in North Sinai have been placed on standby and more than 20 ambulances sent to the crossing.
Emergency talks

Overnight Mr Ban warned of the dangers of escalation, saying the region “cannot afford another full-blown war”.

“The deteriorating situation is leading to a downward spiral which could quickly get out of control,” Mr Ban said. “The risk of violence expanding further still is real.”
Residents of Netivot look at the damage caused by a Palestinian missile strike, 10 July Residents of Netivot in southern Israel look at the damage caused by a Palestinian missile strike

He demanded that Hamas militants stop firing rockets and also urged the Israeli government to exercise restraint and respect international obligations to protect civilians.

The UN Security Council is due to meet for emergency talks on the crisis later on Thursday.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu earlier vowed to “further intensify attacks on Hamas” in Gaza, saying the militants would “pay a heavy price” for their rocket attacks.

Mustafa Barghouti, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, accused Mr Netanyahu of “preparing a ground operation which could bring a huge massacre in Gaza”.

He told the BBC that Hamas was ready for a mutually declared ceasefire, but that Israel had rejected a truce. “Mr Netanyahu seems determined to continue this terrible war,” Mr Barghouti said.

Israeli President Shimon Peres told CNN that a ground offensive might happen “quite soon”. The army has been authorised to deploy up to 40,000 reservists.
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Israel’s Iron Dome missile shield
Iron dome graphic