10 aug 2014
Raghad Qudeh stands outside her uncle's home in Khuza'a where she says an Israeli soldier executed him on 25 July
Members of a family in Khuza'a say an Israeli soldier shot their relative point blank as he waved a white flag, tried to negotiate exit of women and children from home
Raghad Qudeh had nowhere to run except the home of her uncle, Mohammed Tawfiq Qudeh, 64, who had a basement.
For two consecutive nights, Israeli forces had used all manner of weapons and missiles to hit her family home. "They use pesticides, as if they are just killing insects," Raghad said.
Then on Friday, 25 July, next door to Raghad's house, the home of her neighbour, Helmi Abu Rejela, was hit and the bodies of his family lay under the rubble.
After the bombing, Israeli soldiers were shooting all around Raghad's house. In a moment of calm, Raghad and her family found shelter at her uncle's house, next door.
In his basement, Raghad gathered with 21 members of her family, including her sisters and her mother. No one wanted to leave. Others in their neighbourhood had tried to escape their homes and been injured or killed. Some who were told to evacuate by masked Israeli special forces were killed by snipers at the entrance of the town in southern Gaza.
"We stayed hiding until Friday at noon," Raghad said as tears fell from her eyes. "Israeli bulldozers came closer to my uncle's home, destroying the side and Israeli troops broke into the house."
As a bulldozer then crashed into the home and the family feared that the house would collapse into the basement, soldiers entered the house by breaking down a door.
“We closed the curtains, and were terrified when a bullet hit the door, and voices shouting to us to get out," she said.
'Please don't shoot me'
Raghad's uncle, Mohammed, told his family he would open the door and talk peacefully with the soldiers, explaining to them that there were only civilians in the house.
“He courageously went outside, with a white flag, just to talk with them saying, 'I am a peaceful man and have only women, children and elderly here'," Raghad said.
Her uncle, Mohammed, usually based in Spain, showed the soldiers his Spanish Permanent Residency card (he also held a resident permit) and spoke to them in English, Hebrew, Arabic and Spanish. He told his family that using the languages would help to avoid any misundertandings.
He moved closer, speaking softly and politely in all four languages.
”Please don’t shoot me," he said.
Suddenly, a muffled shot came from a short, blonde-haired, blue-eyed soldier holding an M-16 in his shaking hands. He was only about 20-years-old, Raghad said.
“I looked the soldier in the eye and his eyes seemed wet," she said.
“My father only said, 'Please don’t shoot us, we are peaceful people'," his 35-year-old daughter, Buthina Qudeh, said in despair. "But the soldier shot him anyway."
Raghad is still in shock. She never imagined Israeli troops would kill an unarmed civilian man.
“I understand them killing a resistance fighter from close range, but to kill an innocent old man who was kind?” she said.
Buthina said, “Usually my dad was a bit tougher with troops yelling at them to stop using offensive, ethnic slurs, but this time he seemed to realise that caution would protect the lives of those in the family with him."
“It was a cold-blooded killing, just a human killed in front of our eyes, without reason," said Raghad, a 1st-year English-Language college student.
Helen Hintjens, a Hague-based human rights lecturer, said incidences during the current war in Gaza like the one described by Raghad, when people shelter for safety and are attacked, remind her of the Rwandan genocide.
"There too women, children, old people and civilian men, not taking part in any fighting at all, were slaughtered in places of safety, churches, hospitals, schools," Hintjens said. "It is very reminiscent of the genocide. It looks like another genocide, for all intents and purposes."
'Your bullets forced us to stay inside'
After the soldier shot her father, Buthina said, all three soldiers backed away and threw tear-gas at the family.
Raghad and her family ran indoors, as tear-gas made it difficult to breathe, or even see Mohammed's body.
Minutes later, the same three soldiers came into the house again.
“Why didn’t you leave the house?” they asked the family.
“'We tried'," Raghad said she told the troops, "'but you were shooting at us, your bullets forcing us to stay inside'.”
Raghad retells the events of that day outside the same home which used to be a small farm with goats, doves, chicken and dogs. All of the farm animals have been killed, their bodies scattered around what used to be a lovely garden amid a stench of dead meat. One can’t tell if this comes from the animals or the human dead bodies next door.
Raghad said she communicated with a soldier in English, explaining why they hadn't left the house, but the soldier who executed her uncle, Mohammed Qudeh, did not say any word. He still had his hands on the gun, ready to shoot anyone.
“I told them, we are children and women—my cousin spoke in Hebrew, I spoke in English and downstairs the children were screaming, in Arabic,” she recounted.
“After they executed my uncle, they told us go,” she said. Ordered by the soldiers, Raghad and her family had to go back to her parent's home, leaving the body of her uncle bleeding with his mouth open.
While Raghad and her family walked home to their house, many of the male members of the family, including Mohammed Qudeh's son, Ramadan Mohammed Qudeh, were kept behind.
For several hours, Ramadan said, the soldiers moved him and other relatives from room to room around the home, using them as human shields as they shot from windows.
At the time, there weren't any fighters returning fire at the soldiers, but the tactic scared Ramadan all the same.
"We could have been killed at any moment," he said.
Under the staircase
As Raghad and her family walked back to their home, soldiers standing about two meters away fired bullets around the feet of all children and women, a common practice used to scare civilians.
“We are used to them bombing us from above, demolishing our homes with bulldozers, or firing tank shells—but to break into your home, and execute you in front of your family is something we have never seen -we are simple people, who don’t deserve this," she said.
“There is no humanity in them, they are cruel and heartless," she said while holding tears behind her voice staying strong.
When they returned to her parents' home, the family hid under the staircase, the only place they felt was still safe. Raghad told her dad and everyone to pray and prepare to die from the Israeli bullets.
Suddenly, a bulldozer made a hole in the fence of the home and bullets were fired at the staircase, she said.
A gun came through the hole that Raghad had made to try to see what was happening. A soldier screamed, “Raghad, come here… who is inside?”
"Just my family," she said. The soldier demanded they all come out, one by one.
Her father, in his 60s, was pushed around by the soldiers using the butts of their guns. “I felt so sad for my dad, and old wise man being hit by them," she said.
The family was taken again to the house they were hiding in before. When Raghad asked where her uncle was, the soldiers said they had given him first aid and he was okay. “I felt relieved when they told me he was alive," she said.
The children were screaming, asking for water but two blonde-haired soldiers couldn’t care less about us and refused to let us use toilets or drink water, she said.
"We were held at gunpoint, unable to do anything," Raghad said.
Only one Druze soldier came to them with a bottle of water. Speaking Arabic, he told them to cover their ears from the explosions.
Raghad’s brothers were handcuffed, their eyes blind-folded and they were taken to an unknown area. They screamed to the soldiers, “We did nothing, for God’s sake”, as smoke came out of nearby buildings.
Every time Raghad said she asked a soldier when they could leave and use the toilet, they responded, “Ask Hamas."
One of the soldiers wearing a dark-blue yarmulke told Raghad to say where the tunnels were in exchange for her safe haven. She told him she didn't know anything about Hamas.
“When women were finally allowed to use the toilet, the soldiers came inside the toilets to observe us," she said.
Military dogs passed by the children to scare them, while soldiers refilled guns, making noise similar to the sounds the family heard when their uncle, Mohammed, was shot.
"Someone will come to give you instructions on what to do," a soldier told Raghad and her family.
Moments later, Raghad’s dad, Ramadan, came in and told her, “They have ordered us to leave one way, not look to the side or argue with the soldiers."
“'Please be quiet," Ramadan told his daughter, confirming to her that her uncle had been killed. "Go quietly and say goodbye to him.'”
A final look and a question
All of the children and women ran up to the body which lay in a pool of blood. Some held onto their uncle and grandfather by his phenomenal moustache. They had a few seconds for a final look, some kissing his hands, others kissing his forehead and legs, but trying not to make a sound so that the soldiers wouldn't shoot them.
“I kissed him and told him how very proud I am of him," Raghad said.
The family was allowed to flee, but Mohammed‘s body was left behind. As they left, she lingered to ask one of the soldiers - who spoke in British-accented English - a question.
“Why did you kill my uncle, a peaceful man?” she asked.
“Tears fell from the soldier's face as he turned away," Raghad said.
Another soldier distributed chewing gum to the children which they could not refuse because they were hungry and thirsty “and our lives were still in their hands of the soldiers," she explained.
Raghad, her father and their family - four children, 10 women and six men - walked around 7 km from their uncle's home, passing several dead bodies as they walked through their town. During their walk along roads torn up by Israeli bulldozers, soldiers shot at them again.
“Sometimes the soldiers threatened us, by saying 'You will die on the way'," said Buthina.
Soldiers, she said, lied to her family, saying they had offered her father medical care. His body had not been moved and remained in exactly the same spot, in the same position as when he executed.
“It was a cold-blooded execution of my father, in front of us. He had a huge influence on me and my personality, today," Buthina said.
Outside the house, in the once lovely garden, the body remained for several days and was later unrecognisable when it was brought to Nasser Hospital. It was bloated and bruised, but in better condition than other corpses in Gaza, eaten by insects.
Members of a family in Khuza'a say an Israeli soldier shot their relative point blank as he waved a white flag, tried to negotiate exit of women and children from home
Raghad Qudeh had nowhere to run except the home of her uncle, Mohammed Tawfiq Qudeh, 64, who had a basement.
For two consecutive nights, Israeli forces had used all manner of weapons and missiles to hit her family home. "They use pesticides, as if they are just killing insects," Raghad said.
Then on Friday, 25 July, next door to Raghad's house, the home of her neighbour, Helmi Abu Rejela, was hit and the bodies of his family lay under the rubble.
After the bombing, Israeli soldiers were shooting all around Raghad's house. In a moment of calm, Raghad and her family found shelter at her uncle's house, next door.
In his basement, Raghad gathered with 21 members of her family, including her sisters and her mother. No one wanted to leave. Others in their neighbourhood had tried to escape their homes and been injured or killed. Some who were told to evacuate by masked Israeli special forces were killed by snipers at the entrance of the town in southern Gaza.
"We stayed hiding until Friday at noon," Raghad said as tears fell from her eyes. "Israeli bulldozers came closer to my uncle's home, destroying the side and Israeli troops broke into the house."
As a bulldozer then crashed into the home and the family feared that the house would collapse into the basement, soldiers entered the house by breaking down a door.
“We closed the curtains, and were terrified when a bullet hit the door, and voices shouting to us to get out," she said.
'Please don't shoot me'
Raghad's uncle, Mohammed, told his family he would open the door and talk peacefully with the soldiers, explaining to them that there were only civilians in the house.
“He courageously went outside, with a white flag, just to talk with them saying, 'I am a peaceful man and have only women, children and elderly here'," Raghad said.
Her uncle, Mohammed, usually based in Spain, showed the soldiers his Spanish Permanent Residency card (he also held a resident permit) and spoke to them in English, Hebrew, Arabic and Spanish. He told his family that using the languages would help to avoid any misundertandings.
He moved closer, speaking softly and politely in all four languages.
”Please don’t shoot me," he said.
Suddenly, a muffled shot came from a short, blonde-haired, blue-eyed soldier holding an M-16 in his shaking hands. He was only about 20-years-old, Raghad said.
“I looked the soldier in the eye and his eyes seemed wet," she said.
“My father only said, 'Please don’t shoot us, we are peaceful people'," his 35-year-old daughter, Buthina Qudeh, said in despair. "But the soldier shot him anyway."
Raghad is still in shock. She never imagined Israeli troops would kill an unarmed civilian man.
“I understand them killing a resistance fighter from close range, but to kill an innocent old man who was kind?” she said.
Buthina said, “Usually my dad was a bit tougher with troops yelling at them to stop using offensive, ethnic slurs, but this time he seemed to realise that caution would protect the lives of those in the family with him."
“It was a cold-blooded killing, just a human killed in front of our eyes, without reason," said Raghad, a 1st-year English-Language college student.
Helen Hintjens, a Hague-based human rights lecturer, said incidences during the current war in Gaza like the one described by Raghad, when people shelter for safety and are attacked, remind her of the Rwandan genocide.
"There too women, children, old people and civilian men, not taking part in any fighting at all, were slaughtered in places of safety, churches, hospitals, schools," Hintjens said. "It is very reminiscent of the genocide. It looks like another genocide, for all intents and purposes."
'Your bullets forced us to stay inside'
After the soldier shot her father, Buthina said, all three soldiers backed away and threw tear-gas at the family.
Raghad and her family ran indoors, as tear-gas made it difficult to breathe, or even see Mohammed's body.
Minutes later, the same three soldiers came into the house again.
“Why didn’t you leave the house?” they asked the family.
“'We tried'," Raghad said she told the troops, "'but you were shooting at us, your bullets forcing us to stay inside'.”
Raghad retells the events of that day outside the same home which used to be a small farm with goats, doves, chicken and dogs. All of the farm animals have been killed, their bodies scattered around what used to be a lovely garden amid a stench of dead meat. One can’t tell if this comes from the animals or the human dead bodies next door.
Raghad said she communicated with a soldier in English, explaining why they hadn't left the house, but the soldier who executed her uncle, Mohammed Qudeh, did not say any word. He still had his hands on the gun, ready to shoot anyone.
“I told them, we are children and women—my cousin spoke in Hebrew, I spoke in English and downstairs the children were screaming, in Arabic,” she recounted.
“After they executed my uncle, they told us go,” she said. Ordered by the soldiers, Raghad and her family had to go back to her parent's home, leaving the body of her uncle bleeding with his mouth open.
While Raghad and her family walked home to their house, many of the male members of the family, including Mohammed Qudeh's son, Ramadan Mohammed Qudeh, were kept behind.
For several hours, Ramadan said, the soldiers moved him and other relatives from room to room around the home, using them as human shields as they shot from windows.
At the time, there weren't any fighters returning fire at the soldiers, but the tactic scared Ramadan all the same.
"We could have been killed at any moment," he said.
Under the staircase
As Raghad and her family walked back to their home, soldiers standing about two meters away fired bullets around the feet of all children and women, a common practice used to scare civilians.
“We are used to them bombing us from above, demolishing our homes with bulldozers, or firing tank shells—but to break into your home, and execute you in front of your family is something we have never seen -we are simple people, who don’t deserve this," she said.
“There is no humanity in them, they are cruel and heartless," she said while holding tears behind her voice staying strong.
When they returned to her parents' home, the family hid under the staircase, the only place they felt was still safe. Raghad told her dad and everyone to pray and prepare to die from the Israeli bullets.
Suddenly, a bulldozer made a hole in the fence of the home and bullets were fired at the staircase, she said.
A gun came through the hole that Raghad had made to try to see what was happening. A soldier screamed, “Raghad, come here… who is inside?”
"Just my family," she said. The soldier demanded they all come out, one by one.
Her father, in his 60s, was pushed around by the soldiers using the butts of their guns. “I felt so sad for my dad, and old wise man being hit by them," she said.
The family was taken again to the house they were hiding in before. When Raghad asked where her uncle was, the soldiers said they had given him first aid and he was okay. “I felt relieved when they told me he was alive," she said.
The children were screaming, asking for water but two blonde-haired soldiers couldn’t care less about us and refused to let us use toilets or drink water, she said.
"We were held at gunpoint, unable to do anything," Raghad said.
Only one Druze soldier came to them with a bottle of water. Speaking Arabic, he told them to cover their ears from the explosions.
Raghad’s brothers were handcuffed, their eyes blind-folded and they were taken to an unknown area. They screamed to the soldiers, “We did nothing, for God’s sake”, as smoke came out of nearby buildings.
Every time Raghad said she asked a soldier when they could leave and use the toilet, they responded, “Ask Hamas."
One of the soldiers wearing a dark-blue yarmulke told Raghad to say where the tunnels were in exchange for her safe haven. She told him she didn't know anything about Hamas.
“When women were finally allowed to use the toilet, the soldiers came inside the toilets to observe us," she said.
Military dogs passed by the children to scare them, while soldiers refilled guns, making noise similar to the sounds the family heard when their uncle, Mohammed, was shot.
"Someone will come to give you instructions on what to do," a soldier told Raghad and her family.
Moments later, Raghad’s dad, Ramadan, came in and told her, “They have ordered us to leave one way, not look to the side or argue with the soldiers."
“'Please be quiet," Ramadan told his daughter, confirming to her that her uncle had been killed. "Go quietly and say goodbye to him.'”
A final look and a question
All of the children and women ran up to the body which lay in a pool of blood. Some held onto their uncle and grandfather by his phenomenal moustache. They had a few seconds for a final look, some kissing his hands, others kissing his forehead and legs, but trying not to make a sound so that the soldiers wouldn't shoot them.
“I kissed him and told him how very proud I am of him," Raghad said.
The family was allowed to flee, but Mohammed‘s body was left behind. As they left, she lingered to ask one of the soldiers - who spoke in British-accented English - a question.
“Why did you kill my uncle, a peaceful man?” she asked.
“Tears fell from the soldier's face as he turned away," Raghad said.
Another soldier distributed chewing gum to the children which they could not refuse because they were hungry and thirsty “and our lives were still in their hands of the soldiers," she explained.
Raghad, her father and their family - four children, 10 women and six men - walked around 7 km from their uncle's home, passing several dead bodies as they walked through their town. During their walk along roads torn up by Israeli bulldozers, soldiers shot at them again.
“Sometimes the soldiers threatened us, by saying 'You will die on the way'," said Buthina.
Soldiers, she said, lied to her family, saying they had offered her father medical care. His body had not been moved and remained in exactly the same spot, in the same position as when he executed.
“It was a cold-blooded execution of my father, in front of us. He had a huge influence on me and my personality, today," Buthina said.
Outside the house, in the once lovely garden, the body remained for several days and was later unrecognisable when it was brought to Nasser Hospital. It was bloated and bruised, but in better condition than other corpses in Gaza, eaten by insects.
Israeli finance minister, Yair Lapid, threatened to assassinate Mohammed Al-Deif , the general commander of al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, vowing "Israel shall never have a moment’s rest until it assassinates Al-Deif and his co-partners.” Yair Lapid struck a comparison between Israel’s search for Mohamed Al- Deif and the U.S. hunt of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
“Just as the United States did not rest until it found Bin Laden and eliminated him, we will find you and bring you to justice for what you have done to the children of Israel and Gaza,” Lapid claimed.
In a telephone conversation with Congressman Harry Reid by the end of this week, Lapid thanked the U.S. for providing $225 million funds for the Iron Dome projects.
He further called for the disarmament of the resistance factions in the Gaza Strip as part of the economic growth plans to be allegedly implemented for the benefit of “Israelis and Gazans alike”.
“Just as the United States did not rest until it found Bin Laden and eliminated him, we will find you and bring you to justice for what you have done to the children of Israel and Gaza,” Lapid claimed.
In a telephone conversation with Congressman Harry Reid by the end of this week, Lapid thanked the U.S. for providing $225 million funds for the Iron Dome projects.
He further called for the disarmament of the resistance factions in the Gaza Strip as part of the economic growth plans to be allegedly implemented for the benefit of “Israelis and Gazans alike”.
Palestinian medical sources reported, Sunday, that two more Palestinians were killed and many injured, some seriously, in the Israeli bombardment of different parts of the Gaza Strip. Temporary 72-hours ceasefire started at midnight Sunday.
The sources said that a Palestinian was killed in northern Gaza, and many were injured, after the army fired missiles into the area. The slain man has been identified as Saqer Abdullah Reehan, 25.
In addition, one Palestinian was killed, and many injured, including two Palestinians who suffered very serious injuries, when the army fired a missile targeting a motorcycle rider in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza said Ehsan Hussein Kaware’, 24, was killed, while Ehsan Mahrous al-Aagha, 23, and Omar Mahmoud Jarboa’, 27, suffered serious injuries.
The Israeli army fired dozens of missiles into Gaza City, Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, and Khan Younis, targeting homes, workshops, cars and motorcycle riders, causing many injuries.
Medical sources in Gaza said the remains of several Palestinians, killed in earlier bombardments of the Gaza Strip, have been located, and moved to local medical centers for identification.
The Ministry of Health has reported that by the end of the 35th day of Israel’s war on Gaza, the number of slain Palestinians arrived to 1939, including hundreds of infants, children, women and elderly, while more around 9886 have been injured, dozens seriously.
Just before the 72-hour ceasefire started at midnight Sunday, the army fired missiles into a number of homes in different parts of the Gaza Strip, causing dozens of casualties. Resistance fighters in Gaza also fired shells into Israeli cities.
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the distribution of casualties, since July 8, in the Gaza Strip is as follows:
Northern Gaza: 327 killed, 3029 injured
Gaza City: 436 killed, 3693 injured.
Central District: 242 killed, 1623 injured.
Khan Younis (Southern Gaza Strip): 543 killed, 1613 injured.
Rafah (Southern Gaza Strip): 387 killed, 928 injured.
Killed Sunday, August 10
Amani Abed al-Bakara, 35, Khan Younis.
Ahmad Mohammad Atiyya al-Masri, 14, Deir al-Balah.
Anwar Mustafa Za’anin, 17, Gaza.
Saqer Abdullah Reehan, 25, Northern Gaza.
Ehsan Hussein Kaware’, 24, Khan Younis.
The sources said that a Palestinian was killed in northern Gaza, and many were injured, after the army fired missiles into the area. The slain man has been identified as Saqer Abdullah Reehan, 25.
In addition, one Palestinian was killed, and many injured, including two Palestinians who suffered very serious injuries, when the army fired a missile targeting a motorcycle rider in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza said Ehsan Hussein Kaware’, 24, was killed, while Ehsan Mahrous al-Aagha, 23, and Omar Mahmoud Jarboa’, 27, suffered serious injuries.
The Israeli army fired dozens of missiles into Gaza City, Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, and Khan Younis, targeting homes, workshops, cars and motorcycle riders, causing many injuries.
Medical sources in Gaza said the remains of several Palestinians, killed in earlier bombardments of the Gaza Strip, have been located, and moved to local medical centers for identification.
The Ministry of Health has reported that by the end of the 35th day of Israel’s war on Gaza, the number of slain Palestinians arrived to 1939, including hundreds of infants, children, women and elderly, while more around 9886 have been injured, dozens seriously.
Just before the 72-hour ceasefire started at midnight Sunday, the army fired missiles into a number of homes in different parts of the Gaza Strip, causing dozens of casualties. Resistance fighters in Gaza also fired shells into Israeli cities.
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the distribution of casualties, since July 8, in the Gaza Strip is as follows:
Northern Gaza: 327 killed, 3029 injured
Gaza City: 436 killed, 3693 injured.
Central District: 242 killed, 1623 injured.
Khan Younis (Southern Gaza Strip): 543 killed, 1613 injured.
Rafah (Southern Gaza Strip): 387 killed, 928 injured.
Killed Sunday, August 10
Amani Abed al-Bakara, 35, Khan Younis.
Ahmad Mohammad Atiyya al-Masri, 14, Deir al-Balah.
Anwar Mustafa Za’anin, 17, Gaza.
Saqer Abdullah Reehan, 25, Northern Gaza.
Ehsan Hussein Kaware’, 24, Khan Younis.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey is prepared to receive all Palestinian casualties of the Gaza offensive, "irrespective of their numbers." "We can accommodate all of them. We aren't worried about how many," he told an audience of women during a TV interview as part of his presidency campaign.
He pointed out that Turkey has embarked on efforts to bring the casualties into Ankara or Istanbul, and that he already discussed with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas the possibility of transporting the victims to Turkey via Egypt or Israel.
He pointed out that Turkey has embarked on efforts to bring the casualties into Ankara or Istanbul, and that he already discussed with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas the possibility of transporting the victims to Turkey via Egypt or Israel.
Hamas chief: Durable truce must lead to lifting Gaza blockade
A lasting truce must lead to the lifting by Israel of its blockade of the Gaza Strip, Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal said in an interview in Doha on Sunday.
The 72-hour ceasefire Hamas reached with Israel on Sunday "is one of the ways or tactics to ensure successful negotiations or to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza," said Meshaal.
The final "goal we insist on is having the demands of Palestinians met and the Gaza Strip exist without a blockade."
A lasting truce must lead to the lifting by Israel of its blockade of the Gaza Strip, Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal said in an interview in Doha on Sunday.
The 72-hour ceasefire Hamas reached with Israel on Sunday "is one of the ways or tactics to ensure successful negotiations or to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza," said Meshaal.
The final "goal we insist on is having the demands of Palestinians met and the Gaza Strip exist without a blockade."
Four Palestinians were killed and several others were injured Sunday in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip hours ahead of a new 72-hour ceasefire expected to come into effect at midnight.
Hassan Kawaree, Omar Jarbou, and a third unidentified man were killed in an airstrike that targeted a motorbike in Khan Younis.
Earlier Saqir Rayhan, 45, was killed and four others were injured in an airstrike on Beer al-Naaja in northwestern Gaza. They were taken to Kamal Adwan Hospital.
Israeli airstrikes also targeted the house of Gaza City mayor Nizar Hijazi, the al-Atar family home in al-Atatra, and the Abu Rabie family home in northern Gaza.
Anwar Mustafa al-Zaaneen, 43, died at al-Shifa hospital of injuries sustained in shelling in the northern Gaza Strip. He worked for the al-Mizan human rights organization.
Another Israeli airstrike targeted the al-Mazeen family home in Khan Younis.
Three Palestinians were injured in attacks on the same city.
Also, four Palestinians were injured in an airstrike targeting the home of Samir al-Halabi in Beit Lahiya.
Israeli jets targeted the Shamlakh family home in the vicinity of Sheikh Ajleen mosque in western Gaza.
The death toll for Sunday reached 18 by nightfall, including 10 bodies that were pulled from under the rubble of previous attacks.
Hassan Kawaree, Omar Jarbou, and a third unidentified man were killed in an airstrike that targeted a motorbike in Khan Younis.
Earlier Saqir Rayhan, 45, was killed and four others were injured in an airstrike on Beer al-Naaja in northwestern Gaza. They were taken to Kamal Adwan Hospital.
Israeli airstrikes also targeted the house of Gaza City mayor Nizar Hijazi, the al-Atar family home in al-Atatra, and the Abu Rabie family home in northern Gaza.
Anwar Mustafa al-Zaaneen, 43, died at al-Shifa hospital of injuries sustained in shelling in the northern Gaza Strip. He worked for the al-Mizan human rights organization.
Another Israeli airstrike targeted the al-Mazeen family home in Khan Younis.
Three Palestinians were injured in attacks on the same city.
Also, four Palestinians were injured in an airstrike targeting the home of Samir al-Halabi in Beit Lahiya.
Israeli jets targeted the Shamlakh family home in the vicinity of Sheikh Ajleen mosque in western Gaza.
The death toll for Sunday reached 18 by nightfall, including 10 bodies that were pulled from under the rubble of previous attacks.
Palestinian factions have agreed on a new 72-hour halt to hostilities in Gaza starting at midnight, sources close to the Cairo ceasefire talks told Ma'an Sunday.
The Israeli delegation was to return to Cairo later in the evening, the sources said.
They said that during the three-day ceasefire, there will be extensive negotiations to reach a more lasting ceasefire.
Meanwhile, humanitarian aid is expected to flow through Gaza crossings.
A Palestinian source in Cairo told AFP that the Egyptian mediators had received "simultaneous consensus" from both the Israeli and Palestinian side.
In order to reach a lasting truce in Gaza, Palestinians have demanded Israel end its eight-year siege on the Strip, release dozens of prisoners whom Israel has re-arrested that were released in 2011 as part of the Shalit exchange, re-open a seaport and airport in Gaza, and create a safe passage between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Egypt, for its part, insisted on a lifting of Israel's blockade on Gaza.
"This siege should be lifted in accordance to Israel's responsibilities as an occupation force," the foreign ministry in Cairo said in a statement.
Four weeks of bloody fighting have killed more than 1,917 Palestinians and 67 people on the Israeli side, most of them soldiers.
The UN says around three quarters of those killed in Gaza were civilians, around a third of them children.
On the ground, Gazans endured yet another day of fear Sunday as the air force hit 35 targets, killing two 17-year-old youths in central Gaza and the northern town of Beit Hanoun.
Militants launched 21 rockets over the border, 16 of which struck southern Israel and three which were shot down, with the rest falling short inside Palestinian territory, the army said.
In Deir al-Balah, an angry crowd of young men bellowed slogans as they carried the bloodied body of a teenager to its burial side.
The army described the youth as a "prominent terror operative."
"God loves martyrs! We will march on Jerusalem in our millions," chanted mourners.
At the graveside, neighbors passed around pieces of shrapnel as he was laid to rest in a plot where several other freshly-dug graves laid open, as if prepared for further deaths.
Rockets hit Kerem Shalom
Since a 72-hour truce ended on Friday, Gaza has been plunged back into an abyss of violence, with the Israeli military hitting more than 160 targets and killing 16 people, and Palestinian militants launching 110 rockets of which 85 hit Israel.
Meanwhile, Israel said it had closed its Kerem Shalom commercial crossing into the southern Gaza Strip after it was struck twice by rocket fire, once shortly after dawn, and again at around noon.
"After continuous and intentional rocket fire at the Kerem Shalom crossing this morning and this afternoon, during which trucks carrying flammable materials to the Gaza Strip were almost hit, we took the exceptional decision to close the crossing in order to protect the lives of workers and traders," a defense ministry statement said.
In the West Bank, a 12-year-old Palestinian boy was shot dead by Israeli troops as he played outside his home in al-Fawwar refugee camp near the southern city of Hebron, relatives and medics said.
The army said troops had opened fire during a "violent riot" but said it had opened an investigation into the circumstances of the shooting.
Israel's Gaza operation has triggered a series of almost daily protests across the West Bank, during which 17 Palestinians have been killed, the Ramallah-based health ministry said.
Israeli official: Israel accepts Egypt ceasefire proposal
Israel on Sunday accepted an Egyptian proposal for a 72-hour ceasefire in Gaza, government officials said.
"Israel has accepted the Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire," an official told AFP shortly after a Palestinian source confirmed accepting the initiative which would see both sides halt fire from midnight.
The Israeli delegation was to return to Cairo later in the evening, the sources said.
They said that during the three-day ceasefire, there will be extensive negotiations to reach a more lasting ceasefire.
Meanwhile, humanitarian aid is expected to flow through Gaza crossings.
A Palestinian source in Cairo told AFP that the Egyptian mediators had received "simultaneous consensus" from both the Israeli and Palestinian side.
In order to reach a lasting truce in Gaza, Palestinians have demanded Israel end its eight-year siege on the Strip, release dozens of prisoners whom Israel has re-arrested that were released in 2011 as part of the Shalit exchange, re-open a seaport and airport in Gaza, and create a safe passage between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Egypt, for its part, insisted on a lifting of Israel's blockade on Gaza.
"This siege should be lifted in accordance to Israel's responsibilities as an occupation force," the foreign ministry in Cairo said in a statement.
Four weeks of bloody fighting have killed more than 1,917 Palestinians and 67 people on the Israeli side, most of them soldiers.
The UN says around three quarters of those killed in Gaza were civilians, around a third of them children.
On the ground, Gazans endured yet another day of fear Sunday as the air force hit 35 targets, killing two 17-year-old youths in central Gaza and the northern town of Beit Hanoun.
Militants launched 21 rockets over the border, 16 of which struck southern Israel and three which were shot down, with the rest falling short inside Palestinian territory, the army said.
In Deir al-Balah, an angry crowd of young men bellowed slogans as they carried the bloodied body of a teenager to its burial side.
The army described the youth as a "prominent terror operative."
"God loves martyrs! We will march on Jerusalem in our millions," chanted mourners.
At the graveside, neighbors passed around pieces of shrapnel as he was laid to rest in a plot where several other freshly-dug graves laid open, as if prepared for further deaths.
Rockets hit Kerem Shalom
Since a 72-hour truce ended on Friday, Gaza has been plunged back into an abyss of violence, with the Israeli military hitting more than 160 targets and killing 16 people, and Palestinian militants launching 110 rockets of which 85 hit Israel.
Meanwhile, Israel said it had closed its Kerem Shalom commercial crossing into the southern Gaza Strip after it was struck twice by rocket fire, once shortly after dawn, and again at around noon.
"After continuous and intentional rocket fire at the Kerem Shalom crossing this morning and this afternoon, during which trucks carrying flammable materials to the Gaza Strip were almost hit, we took the exceptional decision to close the crossing in order to protect the lives of workers and traders," a defense ministry statement said.
In the West Bank, a 12-year-old Palestinian boy was shot dead by Israeli troops as he played outside his home in al-Fawwar refugee camp near the southern city of Hebron, relatives and medics said.
The army said troops had opened fire during a "violent riot" but said it had opened an investigation into the circumstances of the shooting.
Israel's Gaza operation has triggered a series of almost daily protests across the West Bank, during which 17 Palestinians have been killed, the Ramallah-based health ministry said.
Israeli official: Israel accepts Egypt ceasefire proposal
Israel on Sunday accepted an Egyptian proposal for a 72-hour ceasefire in Gaza, government officials said.
"Israel has accepted the Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire," an official told AFP shortly after a Palestinian source confirmed accepting the initiative which would see both sides halt fire from midnight.
Hedy Epstein, one of the signers of the letter
A group of Holocaust survivors and their descendants from the U.S. and Europe have signed onto a letter challenging a letter published in the New York Times by fellow Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, who they contend promoted “blatant falsehoods to justify the unjustifiable”. They argue that their experience of surviving the Nazi genocide has led them to believe that “Never Again” should apply to everyone, including Palestinians.
Their letter reads as follows:
As Jewish survivors and descendants of survivors of the Nazi genocide we unequivocally condemn the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza and the ongoing occupation and colonization of historic Palestine. We further condemn the United States for providing Israel with the funding to carry out the attack, and Western states more generally for using their diplomatic muscle to protect Israel from condemnation. Genocide begins with the silence of the world.
We are alarmed by the extreme, racist dehumanization of Palestinians in Israeli society, which has reached a fever-pitch. In Israel, politicians and pundits in The Times of Israel and The Jerusalem Post have called openly for genocide of Palestinians and right-wing Israelis are adopting Neo-Nazi insignia.
Furthermore, we are disgusted and outraged by Elie Wiesel's abuse of our history in these pages to promote blatant falsehoods used to justify the unjustifiable: Israel's wholesale effort to destroy Gaza and the murder of nearly 2,000 Palestinians, including many hundreds of children. Nothing can justify bombing UN shelters, homes, hospitals and universities. Nothing can justify depriving people of electricity and water.
We must raise our collective voices and use our collective power to bring about an end to all forms of racism, including the ongoing genocide of Palestinian people. We call for an immediate end to the siege against and blockade of Gaza. We call for the full economic, cultural and academic boycott of Israel. "Never again" must mean NEVER AGAIN FOR ANYONE!
Signed,
Hajo Meyer, survivor of Auschwitz, The Netherlands.
Henri Wajnblum, survivor and son of victim of Nazi genocide, France.
Renate Bridenthal, child refugee from Hitler, granddaughter of Auschwitz victim, United States.
Marianka Ehrlich Ross, survivor of Nazi ethnic cleansing in Vienna, Austria. Now lives in United States.
Annette Herskovits, survived in hiding in France and daughter of parents who were murdered in Auschwitz, United States.
Irena Klepfisz, child survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto. Now lives in United States.
Karen Pomer, granddaughter of member of Dutch resistance and survivor of Bergen Belsen. Now lives in the United States.
Hedy Epstein, survivor sent to England on kindertransport, both parents and family members died in Auschwitz, only her grandfather survived. Now lives in United States.
Lillian Rosengarten, survivor of the Nazi Holocaust, United States.
Suzanne Weiss, child survivor on Kindertransport, France. Now lives in Canada.
H. Richard Leuchtag, survivor, United States.
Ervin Somogyi, survivor and daughter of survivors, United States.
Liliana Kaczerginski, daughter of Vilna ghetto resistance fighter, France.
Jean-Claude Meyer, son of Marcel, shot as a hostage by the Nazis, whose sister and parents died in Auschwitz. Now lives in France.
Chava Finkler, daughter of survivor of Starachovice labour camp, Poland. Now lives in Canada.
Micah Bazant, child of a survivor of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Sylvia Schwartz, daughter and granddaughter of survivors of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Margot Goldstein, daughter and granddaughter of survivors of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Ellen Schwarz Wasfi, daughter of survivors from Vienna, Austria. Now lives in United States.
Lisa Kosowski, daughter of survivor and granddaughter of Auschwitz victims, United States.
Daniel Strum, son of a refugee from Vienna, who, with his parents were forced to flee in 1939, his maternal grand-parents were lost, United States.
Bruce Ballin, son of survivors, some relatives of parents died in camps, one relative beheaded for being in the Baum Resistance Group, United States.
Rachel Duell, daughter of survivors from Germany and Poland, United States.
Raphael Cohen, grandson of Jewish survivors of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Emma Rubin, granddaughter of a survivor of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Alex Safron, grandson of a survivor of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Danielle Feris, grandchild of a Polish grandmother whose whole family died in the Nazi Holocaust, United States.
Jesse Strauss, grandson of Polish survivors of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Anna Baltzer, granddaughter of survivors of Nazi genocide, family members perished in Auschwitz (grand-niece of members of Belgian Resistance), United States.
Abigail Harms, granddaughter of Holocaust survivor, Austria. Lives in United States.
Tessa Strauss, granddaughter of Jewish survivors of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Caroline Picker, granddaughter of survivors of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Amalle Dublon, grandchild and great-grandchild of survivors of the Nazi holocaust, United States.
Antonie Kaufmann Churg, 3rd cousin of Ann Frank and grand-daughter of survivors, United States.
Aliza Shvarts, granddaughter of survivors, United States.
Linda Mamoun, granddaughter of survivors, United States.
Ted Auerbach, grandson of survivor whose whole family died in the Holocaust, United States.
Bob Wilson, grandson of a survivor, United States.
Abby Okrent, granddaughter of survivors of Aushwitz, Dachau, Stuttgart and the Lodz Ghetto
Natalie Rothman, great granddaughter of Holocaust victims in Warsaw. Now lives in Canada.
Yotam Amit, great-grandson of Polish Jew who fled Poland, United States.
Daniel Boyarin, great grandson of victims of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Terri Ginsberg, niece of a survivor of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Nathan Pollack, relative of Holocaust survivors and victims, United States.
Marcy Winograd and Jackie Hirtz, relatives of Holocaust victims, United States.
A group of Holocaust survivors and their descendants from the U.S. and Europe have signed onto a letter challenging a letter published in the New York Times by fellow Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, who they contend promoted “blatant falsehoods to justify the unjustifiable”. They argue that their experience of surviving the Nazi genocide has led them to believe that “Never Again” should apply to everyone, including Palestinians.
Their letter reads as follows:
As Jewish survivors and descendants of survivors of the Nazi genocide we unequivocally condemn the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza and the ongoing occupation and colonization of historic Palestine. We further condemn the United States for providing Israel with the funding to carry out the attack, and Western states more generally for using their diplomatic muscle to protect Israel from condemnation. Genocide begins with the silence of the world.
We are alarmed by the extreme, racist dehumanization of Palestinians in Israeli society, which has reached a fever-pitch. In Israel, politicians and pundits in The Times of Israel and The Jerusalem Post have called openly for genocide of Palestinians and right-wing Israelis are adopting Neo-Nazi insignia.
Furthermore, we are disgusted and outraged by Elie Wiesel's abuse of our history in these pages to promote blatant falsehoods used to justify the unjustifiable: Israel's wholesale effort to destroy Gaza and the murder of nearly 2,000 Palestinians, including many hundreds of children. Nothing can justify bombing UN shelters, homes, hospitals and universities. Nothing can justify depriving people of electricity and water.
We must raise our collective voices and use our collective power to bring about an end to all forms of racism, including the ongoing genocide of Palestinian people. We call for an immediate end to the siege against and blockade of Gaza. We call for the full economic, cultural and academic boycott of Israel. "Never again" must mean NEVER AGAIN FOR ANYONE!
Signed,
Hajo Meyer, survivor of Auschwitz, The Netherlands.
Henri Wajnblum, survivor and son of victim of Nazi genocide, France.
Renate Bridenthal, child refugee from Hitler, granddaughter of Auschwitz victim, United States.
Marianka Ehrlich Ross, survivor of Nazi ethnic cleansing in Vienna, Austria. Now lives in United States.
Annette Herskovits, survived in hiding in France and daughter of parents who were murdered in Auschwitz, United States.
Irena Klepfisz, child survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto. Now lives in United States.
Karen Pomer, granddaughter of member of Dutch resistance and survivor of Bergen Belsen. Now lives in the United States.
Hedy Epstein, survivor sent to England on kindertransport, both parents and family members died in Auschwitz, only her grandfather survived. Now lives in United States.
Lillian Rosengarten, survivor of the Nazi Holocaust, United States.
Suzanne Weiss, child survivor on Kindertransport, France. Now lives in Canada.
H. Richard Leuchtag, survivor, United States.
Ervin Somogyi, survivor and daughter of survivors, United States.
Liliana Kaczerginski, daughter of Vilna ghetto resistance fighter, France.
Jean-Claude Meyer, son of Marcel, shot as a hostage by the Nazis, whose sister and parents died in Auschwitz. Now lives in France.
Chava Finkler, daughter of survivor of Starachovice labour camp, Poland. Now lives in Canada.
Micah Bazant, child of a survivor of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Sylvia Schwartz, daughter and granddaughter of survivors of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Margot Goldstein, daughter and granddaughter of survivors of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Ellen Schwarz Wasfi, daughter of survivors from Vienna, Austria. Now lives in United States.
Lisa Kosowski, daughter of survivor and granddaughter of Auschwitz victims, United States.
Daniel Strum, son of a refugee from Vienna, who, with his parents were forced to flee in 1939, his maternal grand-parents were lost, United States.
Bruce Ballin, son of survivors, some relatives of parents died in camps, one relative beheaded for being in the Baum Resistance Group, United States.
Rachel Duell, daughter of survivors from Germany and Poland, United States.
Raphael Cohen, grandson of Jewish survivors of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Emma Rubin, granddaughter of a survivor of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Alex Safron, grandson of a survivor of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Danielle Feris, grandchild of a Polish grandmother whose whole family died in the Nazi Holocaust, United States.
Jesse Strauss, grandson of Polish survivors of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Anna Baltzer, granddaughter of survivors of Nazi genocide, family members perished in Auschwitz (grand-niece of members of Belgian Resistance), United States.
Abigail Harms, granddaughter of Holocaust survivor, Austria. Lives in United States.
Tessa Strauss, granddaughter of Jewish survivors of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Caroline Picker, granddaughter of survivors of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Amalle Dublon, grandchild and great-grandchild of survivors of the Nazi holocaust, United States.
Antonie Kaufmann Churg, 3rd cousin of Ann Frank and grand-daughter of survivors, United States.
Aliza Shvarts, granddaughter of survivors, United States.
Linda Mamoun, granddaughter of survivors, United States.
Ted Auerbach, grandson of survivor whose whole family died in the Holocaust, United States.
Bob Wilson, grandson of a survivor, United States.
Abby Okrent, granddaughter of survivors of Aushwitz, Dachau, Stuttgart and the Lodz Ghetto
Natalie Rothman, great granddaughter of Holocaust victims in Warsaw. Now lives in Canada.
Yotam Amit, great-grandson of Polish Jew who fled Poland, United States.
Daniel Boyarin, great grandson of victims of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Terri Ginsberg, niece of a survivor of the Nazi genocide, United States.
Nathan Pollack, relative of Holocaust survivors and victims, United States.
Marcy Winograd and Jackie Hirtz, relatives of Holocaust victims, United States.
The Palestinians are examining a proposal for a new 72-hour ceasefire in Gaza, a Hamas spokesman told AFP on Sunday.
"There is a proposal for another 72-hour truce (to allow) for the continuation of negotiations," Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP in Gaza, without saying when it would begin.
"This proposal is being studied," he said, indicating the Palestinian response would depend on "the seriousness of the Israeli position."
His remarks came after Egyptian and Palestinian negotiators wrapped up a fresh round of talks in Cairo, saying they would issue a statement within the coming hours.
The Israeli delegation was currently locked in talks over "all the developments," an official told AFP, without ruling out the possibility the team could return to Cairo.
"The delegation is sitting together to discuss all the developments," he said.
"If they do, it will be this evening or tomorrow."
So far, Egyptian efforts to broker an end to more than a month of fighting have led nowhere, with Israel pulling its team out of talks in Cairo on Friday after Hamas refused to extend a 72-hour ceasefire which had brought relief to millions on both sides of the border.
"There is a proposal for another 72-hour truce (to allow) for the continuation of negotiations," Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP in Gaza, without saying when it would begin.
"This proposal is being studied," he said, indicating the Palestinian response would depend on "the seriousness of the Israeli position."
His remarks came after Egyptian and Palestinian negotiators wrapped up a fresh round of talks in Cairo, saying they would issue a statement within the coming hours.
The Israeli delegation was currently locked in talks over "all the developments," an official told AFP, without ruling out the possibility the team could return to Cairo.
"The delegation is sitting together to discuss all the developments," he said.
"If they do, it will be this evening or tomorrow."
So far, Egyptian efforts to broker an end to more than a month of fighting have led nowhere, with Israel pulling its team out of talks in Cairo on Friday after Hamas refused to extend a 72-hour ceasefire which had brought relief to millions on both sides of the border.
Israel will not return to talks to end the conflict in Gaza while Palestinian militants continue cross-border rocket attacks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.
"Israel will not engage in negotiations under fire, and will continue to act in every way to change the current reality and to bring quiet to all of its citizens," he told a cabinet meeting at the defense ministry in Tel Aviv, his office said.
His remarks came as Palestinian negotiators in Cairo threatened to abandon efforts to broker an end to more than a month of bloodshed in Gaza if Israel did not send a team to join the talks by 4:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Israel pulled its team out of the Cairo talks on Friday after it accused Hamas of breaching a three-day ceasefire and rocket fire on southern Israel resumed.
Netanyahu said there was no end in sight to the Israeli operation, which began with an air campaign on July 8.
A ground assault launched on July 17 ended when troops pulled out last Tuesday.
Israel has retained forces along the Gaza border and carried out scores of air strikes over targets in the Gaza Strip since the 72-hour truce expired on Friday morning.
"Operation Protective Edge is continuing, at no stage did we say it was over. The operation will continue until we achieve our objectives - the return of quiet for a prolonged period," Netanyahu said.
"It will take time and we need patience," he said.
Ahead of the cabinet meeting, two hardline ministers called for troops to go back in to Gaza and topple Hamas, the de-facto power in the battered Palestinian enclave.
"This situation cannot continue," Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told reporters.
"There is no doubt that the only thing left to do now is to overpower Hamas, clean out the territory and get out as quickly as possible."
Interior Minister Gideon Saar agreed.
"What we must do is break the military power of Hamas in Gaza," he said, without elaborating.
"Israel will not engage in negotiations under fire, and will continue to act in every way to change the current reality and to bring quiet to all of its citizens," he told a cabinet meeting at the defense ministry in Tel Aviv, his office said.
His remarks came as Palestinian negotiators in Cairo threatened to abandon efforts to broker an end to more than a month of bloodshed in Gaza if Israel did not send a team to join the talks by 4:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Israel pulled its team out of the Cairo talks on Friday after it accused Hamas of breaching a three-day ceasefire and rocket fire on southern Israel resumed.
Netanyahu said there was no end in sight to the Israeli operation, which began with an air campaign on July 8.
A ground assault launched on July 17 ended when troops pulled out last Tuesday.
Israel has retained forces along the Gaza border and carried out scores of air strikes over targets in the Gaza Strip since the 72-hour truce expired on Friday morning.
"Operation Protective Edge is continuing, at no stage did we say it was over. The operation will continue until we achieve our objectives - the return of quiet for a prolonged period," Netanyahu said.
"It will take time and we need patience," he said.
Ahead of the cabinet meeting, two hardline ministers called for troops to go back in to Gaza and topple Hamas, the de-facto power in the battered Palestinian enclave.
"This situation cannot continue," Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told reporters.
"There is no doubt that the only thing left to do now is to overpower Hamas, clean out the territory and get out as quickly as possible."
Interior Minister Gideon Saar agreed.
"What we must do is break the military power of Hamas in Gaza," he said, without elaborating.
Israeli bombardment has left large swathes of Gaza in ruins, and the enclave's already shattered economy is also feeling the pinch as prices for staple foods have started to climb.
The market in Gaza City's al-Shati refugee camp was bustling Saturday, but many of the camp's hard-up residents are buying less.
Israel's offensive on the enclave has hit agricultural areas badly, pushing up prices.
Khaled Ighrad, 48, who was buying food with his wife and one of his six children, has had to cut back on some key items for his family.
The price of eggs has doubled from 10 shekels ($3) to 20 ($6) since Israel launched a campaign of air strikes on July 8.
"I'm not buying a whole box of eggs, I'm buying half. I'll buy this and it lasts us for two days," he said, wistfully looking at the trays of eggs on the stall in front of him.
"Prices have gone up because things like meat and eggs are produced on the border area. We don't go to the border area any more, so the people only went during the ceasefire."
Israel expanded its offensive against Hamas into a ground operation in mid-July, pushing troops, tanks and artillery across the border into the narrow enclave.
Grown in Gaza
A few stalls away, under a colored canvas awning, Abu Ahmed Badawi sits next to tables stacked with peppers, onions, tomatoes, and potatoes. Few people stop to ask about his wares, grown in Gaza, since he has had to raise his prices.
Not only are farmers unwilling to tend their crops because of the risk of air strikes or shelling, but drivers are wary of traveling to these areas to bring them to the city's markets.
"If they go, they're worried, they're taking their life in their hands, they might die -- or they might live. So the price of goods has increased. Not only because of the sellers, but the people who transport their goods."
Before the conflict, he sold a kilo of potatoes or tomatoes for one shekel. This has climbed to three shekels, a further pinch for Gazans whose economy has been strangled by eight years of Israeli blockade.
"It is difficult to people because they don't have money or work, and there's no economy," Badawi said angrily. The fruits on his stall have not changed in price -- he said they were imported from Israel at the Kerem Shalom crossing.
"This is the Israelis' strategy -- they strike us, then they open the border" to let their produce in, he said bitterly.
50 factories razed
Mahir al-Tabaa, head of the Gaza chamber of commerce and industry, agreed the conflict had caused "huge and long term indirect losses" for the economy.
"The direct losses when (Israel) destroyed the economic and industrial establishments and residential buildings is around $3 billion," he told AFP.
He said while the price of petrol, which is also imported from Israel and the price of which is controlled by the government, has not changed in the conflict, "the prices of all goods and agricultural produce like vegetables and meat will significantly increase.
"This is a heavy burden," he said.
In addition to this, the destruction of "350 industrial sites, including more than 50 large, strategic factories" would set unemployment climbing.
The "unemployment level will be around 50 percent after the war, an average of 200,000 people out of work ... the level was 41 percent before the conflict," he said.
One sector still doing a lively trade is tobacco.
In the market at al-Shati, Abu Salim sits by his small stall, where he sells cigarettes.
Although his prices have increased, he is doing brisk business, and shoppers constantly stop by to pick up a pack of Royals, the brand favored by many Gazans.
A packet of 20 Royals costs eight shekels, one more than before July 8, although Abu Salim has seen no decline in demand.
"In the truce people smoked a pack a day," he said, referring to the three-day ceasefire that ended on Friday. "After it ended, they smoked two a day, because of the situation in the country," he said.
The market in Gaza City's al-Shati refugee camp was bustling Saturday, but many of the camp's hard-up residents are buying less.
Israel's offensive on the enclave has hit agricultural areas badly, pushing up prices.
Khaled Ighrad, 48, who was buying food with his wife and one of his six children, has had to cut back on some key items for his family.
The price of eggs has doubled from 10 shekels ($3) to 20 ($6) since Israel launched a campaign of air strikes on July 8.
"I'm not buying a whole box of eggs, I'm buying half. I'll buy this and it lasts us for two days," he said, wistfully looking at the trays of eggs on the stall in front of him.
"Prices have gone up because things like meat and eggs are produced on the border area. We don't go to the border area any more, so the people only went during the ceasefire."
Israel expanded its offensive against Hamas into a ground operation in mid-July, pushing troops, tanks and artillery across the border into the narrow enclave.
Grown in Gaza
A few stalls away, under a colored canvas awning, Abu Ahmed Badawi sits next to tables stacked with peppers, onions, tomatoes, and potatoes. Few people stop to ask about his wares, grown in Gaza, since he has had to raise his prices.
Not only are farmers unwilling to tend their crops because of the risk of air strikes or shelling, but drivers are wary of traveling to these areas to bring them to the city's markets.
"If they go, they're worried, they're taking their life in their hands, they might die -- or they might live. So the price of goods has increased. Not only because of the sellers, but the people who transport their goods."
Before the conflict, he sold a kilo of potatoes or tomatoes for one shekel. This has climbed to three shekels, a further pinch for Gazans whose economy has been strangled by eight years of Israeli blockade.
"It is difficult to people because they don't have money or work, and there's no economy," Badawi said angrily. The fruits on his stall have not changed in price -- he said they were imported from Israel at the Kerem Shalom crossing.
"This is the Israelis' strategy -- they strike us, then they open the border" to let their produce in, he said bitterly.
50 factories razed
Mahir al-Tabaa, head of the Gaza chamber of commerce and industry, agreed the conflict had caused "huge and long term indirect losses" for the economy.
"The direct losses when (Israel) destroyed the economic and industrial establishments and residential buildings is around $3 billion," he told AFP.
He said while the price of petrol, which is also imported from Israel and the price of which is controlled by the government, has not changed in the conflict, "the prices of all goods and agricultural produce like vegetables and meat will significantly increase.
"This is a heavy burden," he said.
In addition to this, the destruction of "350 industrial sites, including more than 50 large, strategic factories" would set unemployment climbing.
The "unemployment level will be around 50 percent after the war, an average of 200,000 people out of work ... the level was 41 percent before the conflict," he said.
One sector still doing a lively trade is tobacco.
In the market at al-Shati, Abu Salim sits by his small stall, where he sells cigarettes.
Although his prices have increased, he is doing brisk business, and shoppers constantly stop by to pick up a pack of Royals, the brand favored by many Gazans.
A packet of 20 Royals costs eight shekels, one more than before July 8, although Abu Salim has seen no decline in demand.
"In the truce people smoked a pack a day," he said, referring to the three-day ceasefire that ended on Friday. "After it ended, they smoked two a day, because of the situation in the country," he said.
17-year-old Palestinian succumbs to wounds in Gaza City
A Palestinian teenager on Sunday succumbed to wounds sustained in an earlier Israeli attack, a health ministry spokesman said.
Ashraf al-Qidra said 17-year-old Anwar Mustafa al-Zaanin died at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.
Israeli airstrike injures Palestinian in Beit Hanoun
An Israeli airstrike on a water tanker truck in Beit Hanoun severely injured a Palestinian on Friday, medical sources said.
Sources originally told Ma'an the Palestinian had been killed, but health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said he was still alive, but severely injured.
Israeli airstrike hits vehicle in Khan Younis, 4 injured
An Israeli airstrike hit a three-wheeled tuk-tuk vehicle in Khan Younis on Sunday, injuring four Palestinians, a Ma'an reporter said.
A Palestinian teenager on Sunday succumbed to wounds sustained in an earlier Israeli attack, a health ministry spokesman said.
Ashraf al-Qidra said 17-year-old Anwar Mustafa al-Zaanin died at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.
Israeli airstrike injures Palestinian in Beit Hanoun
An Israeli airstrike on a water tanker truck in Beit Hanoun severely injured a Palestinian on Friday, medical sources said.
Sources originally told Ma'an the Palestinian had been killed, but health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said he was still alive, but severely injured.
Israeli airstrike hits vehicle in Khan Younis, 4 injured
An Israeli airstrike hit a three-wheeled tuk-tuk vehicle in Khan Younis on Sunday, injuring four Palestinians, a Ma'an reporter said.
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Truce violations List of names Pictures of martyrs
Days: Aug: 26 - 25 - 24 - 23 - 22 - 21 - 20 - 19 - 18 - 17 - 16 - 15 - 14 - 13 - 12 - 11 - 10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1
July: 31 - 30 - 29 - 28 - 27 - 26 - 25 - 24 - 23 - 22 - 21 - 20 - 19 - 18 - 17 - 16 - 15 - 14 - 13 - 12 - 11 - 10 - 9 - 8
Days: Aug: 26 - 25 - 24 - 23 - 22 - 21 - 20 - 19 - 18 - 17 - 16 - 15 - 14 - 13 - 12 - 11 - 10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1
July: 31 - 30 - 29 - 28 - 27 - 26 - 25 - 24 - 23 - 22 - 21 - 20 - 19 - 18 - 17 - 16 - 15 - 14 - 13 - 12 - 11 - 10 - 9 - 8
