22 july 2014
Wounded Child - IHH Humanitarian Relief
Updated - Medical sources in Gaza has reported that eight more Palestinians have been killed, and dozens injured in ongoing Israeli bombardment in different parts of the gaza Strip.
Medical sources said a Palestinian teen was killed after the army fired missiles into the Mahatta area, in Gaza.
He has been identified as Ahmad Salah Abu Siedo, 17.
An elderly woman, and her relative, have been killed in the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza, after an Israeli missile struck their home.
They have been identified as Fatima Hasan Azzam, 70, and Mariam Hasan Azzam, 50.
Also, a Palestinian woman, identified as Yasmeen Ahmad Abu Mour, 25, and two men, identified as Samer Zuheri Sawafiri, 29, and Mohammad Mousa Abu Fayyad, 36 have also been killed in Rafah.
A Palestinian child, identified as Mona Rami al-Kharwat, 4, was killed after the army bombarded homes in northern Gaza. Her relative Soha Na’im al-Kharwat, 25, (pregnant) was also killed.
The Army bombarded several areas in the Gaza Strip, including dozens of homes in Rafah, in addition to Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
Soldiers also fired several missiles into government facilities, private organizations, sports clubs, mosques, and infrastructure.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported dozens of casualties have been moved to various hospitals, while the remains of slain Palestinians have also been severely mutilated.
It stated that least 604 Palestinians have been killed, and 3700 have been injured since the latest Israeli aggression started on July 8. T
he majority of the casualties are civilians, including children, infants, women and elderly.
Earlier Tuesday, fourteen Palestinians have been killed, and dozens have been injured, earlier Tuesday as the army fired dozens of shells into different areas of the coastal region.
Updated - Medical sources in Gaza has reported that eight more Palestinians have been killed, and dozens injured in ongoing Israeli bombardment in different parts of the gaza Strip.
Medical sources said a Palestinian teen was killed after the army fired missiles into the Mahatta area, in Gaza.
He has been identified as Ahmad Salah Abu Siedo, 17.
An elderly woman, and her relative, have been killed in the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza, after an Israeli missile struck their home.
They have been identified as Fatima Hasan Azzam, 70, and Mariam Hasan Azzam, 50.
Also, a Palestinian woman, identified as Yasmeen Ahmad Abu Mour, 25, and two men, identified as Samer Zuheri Sawafiri, 29, and Mohammad Mousa Abu Fayyad, 36 have also been killed in Rafah.
A Palestinian child, identified as Mona Rami al-Kharwat, 4, was killed after the army bombarded homes in northern Gaza. Her relative Soha Na’im al-Kharwat, 25, (pregnant) was also killed.
The Army bombarded several areas in the Gaza Strip, including dozens of homes in Rafah, in addition to Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
Soldiers also fired several missiles into government facilities, private organizations, sports clubs, mosques, and infrastructure.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported dozens of casualties have been moved to various hospitals, while the remains of slain Palestinians have also been severely mutilated.
It stated that least 604 Palestinians have been killed, and 3700 have been injured since the latest Israeli aggression started on July 8. T
he majority of the casualties are civilians, including children, infants, women and elderly.
Earlier Tuesday, fourteen Palestinians have been killed, and dozens have been injured, earlier Tuesday as the army fired dozens of shells into different areas of the coastal region.
People look at symbolic child coffins during a pro-Palestinian protest on July 21, 2014, at City Hall Square in Copenhagen, Denmark
The UN chief and Washington's top diplomat were in Cairo on Tuesday to push for an end to two weeks of violence in Gaza that has killed over 583 Palestinians.
As the conflict entered its 15th day, neither side showed any sign of willingness to end the violence, with Israel pursuing a relentless campaign of shelling and airstrikes, and militants hitting back with rocket fire and fierce attacks on troops operating on the ground.
Gaza medics say the majority of the dead are civilians, including many women and children, while 27 of the 29 Israelis killed by Gaza militants have been soldiers.
World powers have urged Hamas to accept an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire and stop raining rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip, demands it has so far resisted.
Ahead of a meeting with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, US Secretary of State John Kerry demanded that the Islamist Hamas movement agree to end the fighting to spare further bloodshed, in a call echoed by the Arab League.
"Only Hamas now needs to make the decision to spare innocent civilians from this violence," he said, pledging $47 million in humanitarian aid for the battered Gaza Strip.
Ban also demanded a complete halt to the bloodshed. "Violence must stop, it must stop now," he said late Monday.
Last week, an Egyptian truce proposal collapsed after it was accepted by Israel but rejected by Hamas, with US officials admitting that ceasefire efforts could prove trickier than before as Cairo, the regional mediator, now has little leverage with the movement after the army overthrew its Islamist ally, president Mohamed Morsi, last year.
Although Kerry defended Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas attacks, he voiced Washington's concern over the growing body count.
"We are deeply concerned about the consequences of Israel's appropriate and legitimate effort to defend itself," he said.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon also demanded Hamas "immediately" halt its cross-border rocket attacks, adding that while he understood Israel's military response, "there is a proportionality and ... most of the death toll (has been) Palestinian."
100,000 displaced
Meanwhile there was no halt to the bloodshed on the ground with 23 people killed in fresh Israeli strikes on Tuesday, raising the death toll since Israel launched its operation on July 8 to 583, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.
Five of those killed on Tuesday were members of the same family who died in a strike on Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. Four of the victims were women, he said.
Another 3,640 people have been wounded.
Israel has said Operation Protective Edge is to stamp out rocket fire from Gaza, and on July 17 it sent in ground troops with the aim of destroy cross-border tunnels used by Hamas militants to infiltrate southern Israel.
Since the offensive, more than 100,000 Gazans have fled their homes, seeking shelter in 69 schools run by the Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA).
Early on Tuesday morning, the Israeli army said another two of its troops had been killed in clashes in Gaza a day earlier, raising Monday's toll to nine soldiers.
Overall, 27 soldiers have died in the past four days, with 13 killed on Sunday alone in what was the bloodiest single day for the Israeli military since the Lebanon war of 2006.
Two Israeli civilians have also been killed by rocket fire.
'Lift the blockade'
Hamas' main condition for halting its fire is a lifting of Israel's eight-year blockade on the enclave, but it is also looking for "the release of those recently detained" in the West Bank, Ismail Haniya, the movement's top Gaza-based official, said late on Monday.
"The conditions of the Palestinian resistance constitute the minimum required for a truce. The resistance and the sons of our people who have made such sacrifices in this mad war cannot accept anything less," he said.
Meanwhile, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas held talks in Doha, pledging to work together for a ceasefire and to lift the blockade on Gaza.
"Hamas and Abbas agreed that all Palestinian factions should work as a team towards a ceasefire," Azzam al-Ahmed, a senior official in Abbas's Fatah party, told AFP.
"It was decided that there should be a ceasefire first, and we will continue discussions with Egypt and all regional and international sides until we crystallize the content of a final peace agreement."
But there has been no let-up in cross-border rocket fire since the operation began, with 116 rockets hitting Israel on Monday, one striking the greater Tel Aviv area, and another 17 shot down.
Violence also broke out in the West Bank, where an Israeli shot dead a Palestinian who had been throwing stones at his car, Palestinian security sources said. The Israeli army said it was investigating the incident.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, an Israeli was seriously wounded after a Palestinian opened fire at him from a travelling car, the army said.
The UN chief and Washington's top diplomat were in Cairo on Tuesday to push for an end to two weeks of violence in Gaza that has killed over 583 Palestinians.
As the conflict entered its 15th day, neither side showed any sign of willingness to end the violence, with Israel pursuing a relentless campaign of shelling and airstrikes, and militants hitting back with rocket fire and fierce attacks on troops operating on the ground.
Gaza medics say the majority of the dead are civilians, including many women and children, while 27 of the 29 Israelis killed by Gaza militants have been soldiers.
World powers have urged Hamas to accept an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire and stop raining rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip, demands it has so far resisted.
Ahead of a meeting with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, US Secretary of State John Kerry demanded that the Islamist Hamas movement agree to end the fighting to spare further bloodshed, in a call echoed by the Arab League.
"Only Hamas now needs to make the decision to spare innocent civilians from this violence," he said, pledging $47 million in humanitarian aid for the battered Gaza Strip.
Ban also demanded a complete halt to the bloodshed. "Violence must stop, it must stop now," he said late Monday.
Last week, an Egyptian truce proposal collapsed after it was accepted by Israel but rejected by Hamas, with US officials admitting that ceasefire efforts could prove trickier than before as Cairo, the regional mediator, now has little leverage with the movement after the army overthrew its Islamist ally, president Mohamed Morsi, last year.
Although Kerry defended Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas attacks, he voiced Washington's concern over the growing body count.
"We are deeply concerned about the consequences of Israel's appropriate and legitimate effort to defend itself," he said.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon also demanded Hamas "immediately" halt its cross-border rocket attacks, adding that while he understood Israel's military response, "there is a proportionality and ... most of the death toll (has been) Palestinian."
100,000 displaced
Meanwhile there was no halt to the bloodshed on the ground with 23 people killed in fresh Israeli strikes on Tuesday, raising the death toll since Israel launched its operation on July 8 to 583, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.
Five of those killed on Tuesday were members of the same family who died in a strike on Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. Four of the victims were women, he said.
Another 3,640 people have been wounded.
Israel has said Operation Protective Edge is to stamp out rocket fire from Gaza, and on July 17 it sent in ground troops with the aim of destroy cross-border tunnels used by Hamas militants to infiltrate southern Israel.
Since the offensive, more than 100,000 Gazans have fled their homes, seeking shelter in 69 schools run by the Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA).
Early on Tuesday morning, the Israeli army said another two of its troops had been killed in clashes in Gaza a day earlier, raising Monday's toll to nine soldiers.
Overall, 27 soldiers have died in the past four days, with 13 killed on Sunday alone in what was the bloodiest single day for the Israeli military since the Lebanon war of 2006.
Two Israeli civilians have also been killed by rocket fire.
'Lift the blockade'
Hamas' main condition for halting its fire is a lifting of Israel's eight-year blockade on the enclave, but it is also looking for "the release of those recently detained" in the West Bank, Ismail Haniya, the movement's top Gaza-based official, said late on Monday.
"The conditions of the Palestinian resistance constitute the minimum required for a truce. The resistance and the sons of our people who have made such sacrifices in this mad war cannot accept anything less," he said.
Meanwhile, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas held talks in Doha, pledging to work together for a ceasefire and to lift the blockade on Gaza.
"Hamas and Abbas agreed that all Palestinian factions should work as a team towards a ceasefire," Azzam al-Ahmed, a senior official in Abbas's Fatah party, told AFP.
"It was decided that there should be a ceasefire first, and we will continue discussions with Egypt and all regional and international sides until we crystallize the content of a final peace agreement."
But there has been no let-up in cross-border rocket fire since the operation began, with 116 rockets hitting Israel on Monday, one striking the greater Tel Aviv area, and another 17 shot down.
Violence also broke out in the West Bank, where an Israeli shot dead a Palestinian who had been throwing stones at his car, Palestinian security sources said. The Israeli army said it was investigating the incident.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, an Israeli was seriously wounded after a Palestinian opened fire at him from a travelling car, the army said.
A Palestinian medic stands infront of a destroyed building in Gaza's eastern Shajaiyeh district, on July 20, 2014
At a dingy Gaza ambulance station, paramedics struggle to stay awake during 24-hour shifts that see them coming under fire and dealing with the deaths of civilians and even colleagues.
The men describe themselves as a family, bonded together by experiences that are difficult to comprehend.
They have collected body parts and dead children; they have been trapped between Israeli shelling and Hamas sniper fire; and several of them have been wounded.
Shift supervisor Jihad Selim has been a paramedic for 17 years and has no regrets, despite having worked through three wars and the violence of the Second Intifada in 2000-2005.
But he wouldn't want to see his children follow in his footsteps.
"The things we see are very hard," he told AFP.
"We go into a house and we find a body torn into pieces, someone picks up a hand and gives it to you and says 'take it.'
"But these are things we're used to."
Adel al-Azbut, 30, is similarly stoical about the horrors they encounter on a daily basis.
"To be honest, I just get on with it," he says.
"If I see pieces of a body, my professional responsibility requires that I just deal with situations like that and do it in a professional way."
Adding to the pressure is that fact that they all have families at home, and many admit that their deepest fear is getting an emergency call from their own home.
Non-stop calls
Azbut decided he wanted to be a paramedic during the Second Intifada, impressed by the work done by first responders treating people in the Gaza Strip.
"The best thing for any human being to be able to do is to help another human being," he says.
"I'm honored that I'm someone who is able to help people."
In the background, the phone rings constantly.
Sometimes it is nothing more than children, bored at home, who ring the emergency service's toll-free number for fun.
"The worst thing that ever happened to us was them making our number toll-free. Now in Gaza, if you want to make sure the sound on your phone is working, you call our number," Selim says ruefully.
But often it is far more serious.
Families living in flashpoint border areas sometimes make desperate calls in the hope of being evacuated by ambulance, but Selim can't send anyone without first coordinating with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
On Sunday morning, paramedic Fuad Jaber was killed in the Shejaiyeh neighborhood during an intense Israeli bombardment that killed at least 72 people.
A convoy of ambulances escorted his body to the family home, his colleagues weeping openly as his body was carried in to his wife and two-year-old daughter.
Brothers in suffering
But even during wartime, there are more ordinary emergencies.
An ambulance speeds through the streets to find an eight-year-old girl who has fallen from the third floor of a building.
The paramedics put splits on her legs, her neck in a brace, and take her and her frantic parents to Gaza City's Shifa hospital.
"Sometimes it's shelling, sometimes it's an accident. During wartime, we get a cocktail," says the attending paramedic with a smile.
Selim says the latest conflict, which began on July 8, has been even worse than the previous two Israeli operations in 2008-9 and 2012.
"Every war is more difficult than the one before, to be honest. There isn't a country in the world that has had to deal with three wars in six years," he says.
But the paramedics pull together to support one another.
"We're like a family here and we treat each other like that, we're like brothers," Selim says.
"We deal with situations together, we help each other out, we sleep and wake up together."
For all the suffering they experience, or perhaps because of it, the atmosphere at their ambulance station is lighthearted.
The men argue over what they'll have for dessert with the dinner that breaks the daytime fast observed by Muslims during Ramadan and who had the hardest shift last night.
"We try to keep it light," says Azbut.
"Because we know at any minute a call could come and we'll all go out and we don't know who will come back."
At a dingy Gaza ambulance station, paramedics struggle to stay awake during 24-hour shifts that see them coming under fire and dealing with the deaths of civilians and even colleagues.
The men describe themselves as a family, bonded together by experiences that are difficult to comprehend.
They have collected body parts and dead children; they have been trapped between Israeli shelling and Hamas sniper fire; and several of them have been wounded.
Shift supervisor Jihad Selim has been a paramedic for 17 years and has no regrets, despite having worked through three wars and the violence of the Second Intifada in 2000-2005.
But he wouldn't want to see his children follow in his footsteps.
"The things we see are very hard," he told AFP.
"We go into a house and we find a body torn into pieces, someone picks up a hand and gives it to you and says 'take it.'
"But these are things we're used to."
Adel al-Azbut, 30, is similarly stoical about the horrors they encounter on a daily basis.
"To be honest, I just get on with it," he says.
"If I see pieces of a body, my professional responsibility requires that I just deal with situations like that and do it in a professional way."
Adding to the pressure is that fact that they all have families at home, and many admit that their deepest fear is getting an emergency call from their own home.
Non-stop calls
Azbut decided he wanted to be a paramedic during the Second Intifada, impressed by the work done by first responders treating people in the Gaza Strip.
"The best thing for any human being to be able to do is to help another human being," he says.
"I'm honored that I'm someone who is able to help people."
In the background, the phone rings constantly.
Sometimes it is nothing more than children, bored at home, who ring the emergency service's toll-free number for fun.
"The worst thing that ever happened to us was them making our number toll-free. Now in Gaza, if you want to make sure the sound on your phone is working, you call our number," Selim says ruefully.
But often it is far more serious.
Families living in flashpoint border areas sometimes make desperate calls in the hope of being evacuated by ambulance, but Selim can't send anyone without first coordinating with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
On Sunday morning, paramedic Fuad Jaber was killed in the Shejaiyeh neighborhood during an intense Israeli bombardment that killed at least 72 people.
A convoy of ambulances escorted his body to the family home, his colleagues weeping openly as his body was carried in to his wife and two-year-old daughter.
Brothers in suffering
But even during wartime, there are more ordinary emergencies.
An ambulance speeds through the streets to find an eight-year-old girl who has fallen from the third floor of a building.
The paramedics put splits on her legs, her neck in a brace, and take her and her frantic parents to Gaza City's Shifa hospital.
"Sometimes it's shelling, sometimes it's an accident. During wartime, we get a cocktail," says the attending paramedic with a smile.
Selim says the latest conflict, which began on July 8, has been even worse than the previous two Israeli operations in 2008-9 and 2012.
"Every war is more difficult than the one before, to be honest. There isn't a country in the world that has had to deal with three wars in six years," he says.
But the paramedics pull together to support one another.
"We're like a family here and we treat each other like that, we're like brothers," Selim says.
"We deal with situations together, we help each other out, we sleep and wake up together."
For all the suffering they experience, or perhaps because of it, the atmosphere at their ambulance station is lighthearted.
The men argue over what they'll have for dessert with the dinner that breaks the daytime fast observed by Muslims during Ramadan and who had the hardest shift last night.
"We try to keep it light," says Azbut.
"Because we know at any minute a call could come and we'll all go out and we don't know who will come back."
Army: 2 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza
Two Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in the Gaza Strip, the army said Tuesday, raising the number of troops killed in the 15-day conflict with Hamas to 27.
"Yesterday, Monday, two IDF (Israeli army) soldiers were killed during battles of Operation Protective Edge," a statement from the army read.
Two Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in the Gaza Strip, the army said Tuesday, raising the number of troops killed in the 15-day conflict with Hamas to 27.
"Yesterday, Monday, two IDF (Israeli army) soldiers were killed during battles of Operation Protective Edge," a statement from the army read.
Palestinians celebrate on Sunday after Hamas' armed wing announced the capture of an Israeli soldier
An Israeli soldier has been classified as "missing" since Sunday, Israeli media reported Tuesday, two days after Hamas' military wing announced the capture of a soldier.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said that a soldier had been declared missing and "presumed dead" after Palestinian militants attacked an armored vehicle carrying seven soldiers in Gaza City on Sunday.
The Hamas-affiliated al-Qassam Brigades said on Sunday night that it had captured an Israeli soldier, the first since the release of Gilad Shalit in 2011.
Al-Qassam Brigades said during a speech by spokesman Abu Ubaida aired live on Ma'an News that the captured soldier is named Shaul Aron and his military number is 6092065.
An Israeli military spokeswoman could not confirm news of the capture.
The announcement of the captured soldier triggered celebrations across the West Bank, with hundreds of people in Ramallah, Hebron and Bethlehem taking to the streets, honking their car horns, and launching fireworks following news of the capture.
In 2011, captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was exchanged for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.
An Israeli soldier has been classified as "missing" since Sunday, Israeli media reported Tuesday, two days after Hamas' military wing announced the capture of a soldier.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said that a soldier had been declared missing and "presumed dead" after Palestinian militants attacked an armored vehicle carrying seven soldiers in Gaza City on Sunday.
The Hamas-affiliated al-Qassam Brigades said on Sunday night that it had captured an Israeli soldier, the first since the release of Gilad Shalit in 2011.
Al-Qassam Brigades said during a speech by spokesman Abu Ubaida aired live on Ma'an News that the captured soldier is named Shaul Aron and his military number is 6092065.
An Israeli military spokeswoman could not confirm news of the capture.
The announcement of the captured soldier triggered celebrations across the West Bank, with hundreds of people in Ramallah, Hebron and Bethlehem taking to the streets, honking their car horns, and launching fireworks following news of the capture.
In 2011, captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was exchanged for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.
Rubble of what were homes in Gaza
As the Israeli army continued its illegitimate offensive on civilians in the besieged coastal region for the fourteenth day, Palestinian medical sources have reported that twelve Palestinians have been killed, and dozens injured, as the Israeli army fired more missiles into Palestinian homes.
The sources said that one resident, identified as Naji Jamal al-Fajm, 26, was killed in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, and several Palestinians, including children, have been injured, some seriously.
In Deir al-Balah, the Israeli Air Force and the army carried out several air strikes hitting dozens of homes and property, killing five Palestinians of two families, and wounded several others.
The slain Palestinians have been identified as Ebtehal Ibrahim ar-Remahi, Yousef Ibrahim ar-Remahi, Eman Ibrahim ar-Remahi, Salwa Abu Manfi and Samira Abu Manfi.
Also in Deir al-Balah, a Palestinian identified as Abdullah Ismael al-Baheessy, 27, was killed, and several residents were injured, the Ministry of Health said.
In addition, one Palestinian was killed, and several others were injured, one seriously, when the army fired missiles into home in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. He was been identified as Mos’ab Saleh Salama, 19.
At least five more Palestinians have been injured in a number of air strikes in Khan Younis.
Another Palestinian, identified as Ibrahim Nasr Haroun, 38, was killed in the Nusseirat area, in central Gaza.
Also on Tuesday before dawn, resident Mahmoud Suleiman Abu Sabha, 55, was killed in Khan Younis, while resident Khader Baker, 60, was killed after the army bombarded homes, west of Gaza City.
Resident Wa’el Jamal Harb, 32, was killed by an Israeli shell in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
Several Palestinians, including women and children, were injured, some seriously, after the army bombarded an area west of Gaza City.
Several homes were also bombarded in Shaty’ refugee camp, in Gaza, and more than 60 Palestinians have been injured.
The Ministry of Health said that during the morning hours, Tuesday, 12 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip, and more than 55 injured, and that at least 583 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 3640 have been injured since the latest Israel aggression on Gaza started on July 8.
As the Israeli army continued its illegitimate offensive on civilians in the besieged coastal region for the fourteenth day, Palestinian medical sources have reported that twelve Palestinians have been killed, and dozens injured, as the Israeli army fired more missiles into Palestinian homes.
The sources said that one resident, identified as Naji Jamal al-Fajm, 26, was killed in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, and several Palestinians, including children, have been injured, some seriously.
In Deir al-Balah, the Israeli Air Force and the army carried out several air strikes hitting dozens of homes and property, killing five Palestinians of two families, and wounded several others.
The slain Palestinians have been identified as Ebtehal Ibrahim ar-Remahi, Yousef Ibrahim ar-Remahi, Eman Ibrahim ar-Remahi, Salwa Abu Manfi and Samira Abu Manfi.
Also in Deir al-Balah, a Palestinian identified as Abdullah Ismael al-Baheessy, 27, was killed, and several residents were injured, the Ministry of Health said.
In addition, one Palestinian was killed, and several others were injured, one seriously, when the army fired missiles into home in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. He was been identified as Mos’ab Saleh Salama, 19.
At least five more Palestinians have been injured in a number of air strikes in Khan Younis.
Another Palestinian, identified as Ibrahim Nasr Haroun, 38, was killed in the Nusseirat area, in central Gaza.
Also on Tuesday before dawn, resident Mahmoud Suleiman Abu Sabha, 55, was killed in Khan Younis, while resident Khader Baker, 60, was killed after the army bombarded homes, west of Gaza City.
Resident Wa’el Jamal Harb, 32, was killed by an Israeli shell in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
Several Palestinians, including women and children, were injured, some seriously, after the army bombarded an area west of Gaza City.
Several homes were also bombarded in Shaty’ refugee camp, in Gaza, and more than 60 Palestinians have been injured.
The Ministry of Health said that during the morning hours, Tuesday, 12 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip, and more than 55 injured, and that at least 583 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 3640 have been injured since the latest Israel aggression on Gaza started on July 8.
The United States is working for an "immediate" ceasefire in Gaza, President Barack Obama said Monday, as the White House called on Israel to do more to protect Palestinian civilians.
While Israel has the right to defend itself against a barrage of Hamas rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, Washington has "serious concerns about the rising number of Palestinian civilian deaths and the loss of Israeli lives," Obama said.
"That is why it now has to be our focus and the focus of the international community to bring about a ceasefire that ends the fighting and that can stop the deaths of innocent civilians, both in Gaza and in Israel," he said.
On a difficult mission to secure a truce, US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Cairo, which has mediated in past Israel-Palestinian conflicts and has taken the lead in trying to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which dominates the Gaza Strip.
The two-week conflict has dramatically escalated in recent days, with Israeli ground forces pushing into Gaza, where the Palestinian death toll stood at more than 570 as of late Monday.
More than 100,000 Palestinians had also been displaced from their homes, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said.
Israel must do more to protect Palestinian civilians caught in the crossfire in the 14-day assault, the White House said.
"We would like the Israelis to take even greater steps to ensure the protection of civilians," spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.
It was "unacceptable" for Hamas "to continue firing rockets squarely at Israeli civilians," he said.
"At the same time, we also want to make sure that Israel is doing everything that they can to live up to their own standards related to protecting the welfare and well-being of innocent civilian bystanders."
Obama noted that Israel had "already done significant damage to Hamas' terrorist infrastructure in Gaza," but US officials did not elaborate about what he was referring to.
Twenty-five Israeli soldiers, including two with dual US-Israeli citizenship, have also died, the army's worst death toll in years.
"The work will not be easy," Obama said of efforts to broker a ceasefire.
"Obviously, there are enormous passions involved in this, and some very difficult strategic issues involved," the president added, in a statement delivered from the White House.
"Nevertheless, I've asked John to do everything he can to help facilitate a cessation to hostilities. We don't want to see any more civilians getting killed."
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the US supported the Egyptian initiative, adding: "We do believe that there’s not another viable plan out there."
"I don’t think we would support something if we didn’t think it had a chance of succeeding," she added, hinting however that the US was open to some changes to the plan, saying she did not know what the "final format" would look like.
While Israel has the right to defend itself against a barrage of Hamas rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, Washington has "serious concerns about the rising number of Palestinian civilian deaths and the loss of Israeli lives," Obama said.
"That is why it now has to be our focus and the focus of the international community to bring about a ceasefire that ends the fighting and that can stop the deaths of innocent civilians, both in Gaza and in Israel," he said.
On a difficult mission to secure a truce, US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Cairo, which has mediated in past Israel-Palestinian conflicts and has taken the lead in trying to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which dominates the Gaza Strip.
The two-week conflict has dramatically escalated in recent days, with Israeli ground forces pushing into Gaza, where the Palestinian death toll stood at more than 570 as of late Monday.
More than 100,000 Palestinians had also been displaced from their homes, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said.
Israel must do more to protect Palestinian civilians caught in the crossfire in the 14-day assault, the White House said.
"We would like the Israelis to take even greater steps to ensure the protection of civilians," spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.
It was "unacceptable" for Hamas "to continue firing rockets squarely at Israeli civilians," he said.
"At the same time, we also want to make sure that Israel is doing everything that they can to live up to their own standards related to protecting the welfare and well-being of innocent civilian bystanders."
Obama noted that Israel had "already done significant damage to Hamas' terrorist infrastructure in Gaza," but US officials did not elaborate about what he was referring to.
Twenty-five Israeli soldiers, including two with dual US-Israeli citizenship, have also died, the army's worst death toll in years.
"The work will not be easy," Obama said of efforts to broker a ceasefire.
"Obviously, there are enormous passions involved in this, and some very difficult strategic issues involved," the president added, in a statement delivered from the White House.
"Nevertheless, I've asked John to do everything he can to help facilitate a cessation to hostilities. We don't want to see any more civilians getting killed."
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the US supported the Egyptian initiative, adding: "We do believe that there’s not another viable plan out there."
"I don’t think we would support something if we didn’t think it had a chance of succeeding," she added, hinting however that the US was open to some changes to the plan, saying she did not know what the "final format" would look like.
Lebanon's Hezbollah is backing the Palestinian resistance in Gaza to defeat Israel, the Shiite movement's leader Hassan Nasrallah said Monday.
Nasrallah told Hamas' exiled chief Khalid Mashaal by telephone: "Hezbollah and the Lebanese resistance stand firmly on the side of the intifada and the Palestinian people's resistance, and support Hamas' strategy and the just conditions it has set to end the conflict."
Hamas is demanding Israel end its siege of Gaza and has called for the release of scores of prisoners from Israeli jails before it considers peace talks proposed by Egypt.
Nasrallah, meanwhile, expressed his "complete confidence in the resistance's capacity to defend itself and to achieve a new victory in July," a reference to Israel's failure to crush Hezbollah in its July 2006 offensive against Lebanon.
In a separate phone call to Ramadan Abdallah Challah, secretary-general of the Gaza's second-biggest armed group, the Islamic Jihad, Nasrallah said: "The Lebanese resistance is willing to cooperate completely, in order to realise the goals of the Palestinian resistance, and to ensure the failure of the (Israeli) aggression."
Israel's assault on Gaza, the bloodiest in five years, has lasted 14 days, killing more than 500 Palestinians, while 18 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the violence.
Nasrallah told Hamas' exiled chief Khalid Mashaal by telephone: "Hezbollah and the Lebanese resistance stand firmly on the side of the intifada and the Palestinian people's resistance, and support Hamas' strategy and the just conditions it has set to end the conflict."
Hamas is demanding Israel end its siege of Gaza and has called for the release of scores of prisoners from Israeli jails before it considers peace talks proposed by Egypt.
Nasrallah, meanwhile, expressed his "complete confidence in the resistance's capacity to defend itself and to achieve a new victory in July," a reference to Israel's failure to crush Hezbollah in its July 2006 offensive against Lebanon.
In a separate phone call to Ramadan Abdallah Challah, secretary-general of the Gaza's second-biggest armed group, the Islamic Jihad, Nasrallah said: "The Lebanese resistance is willing to cooperate completely, in order to realise the goals of the Palestinian resistance, and to ensure the failure of the (Israeli) aggression."
Israel's assault on Gaza, the bloodiest in five years, has lasted 14 days, killing more than 500 Palestinians, while 18 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the violence.
The Gaza strip has sustained damages of roughly $3 billion since the start of the Israeli offensive, minister of national economy Mohammad Mustafa estimated Monday.
Mustafa said in a statement that the role of his ministry has doubled in light of the continuous Israeli offensive and targeting of houses, farms, and economic, social and health facilities.
Mustafa added that the ministry was cooperating with the private sector to provide Palestinians in Gaza with urgent needs, mainly medical supplies, but they are also administering relief campaigns.
Mustafa said that initial loss estimates were approximately $3 billion, which is more than the $1.8 billion GDP in Gaza Strip.
Mustafa said in a statement that the role of his ministry has doubled in light of the continuous Israeli offensive and targeting of houses, farms, and economic, social and health facilities.
Mustafa added that the ministry was cooperating with the private sector to provide Palestinians in Gaza with urgent needs, mainly medical supplies, but they are also administering relief campaigns.
Mustafa said that initial loss estimates were approximately $3 billion, which is more than the $1.8 billion GDP in Gaza Strip.
Continued confrontations in West Bank and Jerusalem
The UN Security Council expressed "serious concern at the escalation of violence" in Gaza, Monday, and has called for an immediate ceasefire. Mass protests continue across the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, where Israeli forces took into custody at least eight people today.
According to WAFA Palestinian News & Info Agency, the call came just as the UN Security Council convened in an emergency session, at the request of Jordan and Turkey, following a Sunday call made by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who had earlier asked for the restoration of the 2012 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Rwandan UN Ambassador Eugene Gasana told journalists:
"The members of the Security Council expressed serious concern over the growing number of casualties. The members of the Security Council called for an immediate cessation of hostilities," adding: "The members of the Security Council called for respect of international humanitarian law including protection of civilians."
See related article: B'Tselem: Israel Failed to Provide Connection between Targets and Military Activity
Some 83,000 people have now sought refuge at UN-administered schools in the Gaza Strip.
Confrontations between protesters and Israeli forces continue to escalate in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, WAFA additionally reports, as Israeli forces abducted five Palestinians in the districts of Bethlehem and Jenin, on Monday.
Meanwhile, Israeli police arrested three in Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club (PPC).
WAFA notes that Israeli police have now arrested some 36 Palestinian Israeli citizens during confrontations inside legally recognized Israeli territory.
(PPC quoted a local activist, adding that some of the detainees were released while others' detention was extended.)
See: Document On Palestinian Detainees; Facts and Statistics
This now brings the total number of Palestinians taken into Israeli custody, since the beginning of the massive arrest campaign on June 12th, to 1,220 detainees.
Related: Ministry Of Health: “More Than 1,000 Palestinians Kidnapped Since June 12"
The UN Security Council expressed "serious concern at the escalation of violence" in Gaza, Monday, and has called for an immediate ceasefire. Mass protests continue across the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, where Israeli forces took into custody at least eight people today.
According to WAFA Palestinian News & Info Agency, the call came just as the UN Security Council convened in an emergency session, at the request of Jordan and Turkey, following a Sunday call made by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who had earlier asked for the restoration of the 2012 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Rwandan UN Ambassador Eugene Gasana told journalists:
"The members of the Security Council expressed serious concern over the growing number of casualties. The members of the Security Council called for an immediate cessation of hostilities," adding: "The members of the Security Council called for respect of international humanitarian law including protection of civilians."
See related article: B'Tselem: Israel Failed to Provide Connection between Targets and Military Activity
Some 83,000 people have now sought refuge at UN-administered schools in the Gaza Strip.
Confrontations between protesters and Israeli forces continue to escalate in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, WAFA additionally reports, as Israeli forces abducted five Palestinians in the districts of Bethlehem and Jenin, on Monday.
Meanwhile, Israeli police arrested three in Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club (PPC).
WAFA notes that Israeli police have now arrested some 36 Palestinian Israeli citizens during confrontations inside legally recognized Israeli territory.
(PPC quoted a local activist, adding that some of the detainees were released while others' detention was extended.)
See: Document On Palestinian Detainees; Facts and Statistics
This now brings the total number of Palestinians taken into Israeli custody, since the beginning of the massive arrest campaign on June 12th, to 1,220 detainees.
Related: Ministry Of Health: “More Than 1,000 Palestinians Kidnapped Since June 12"
