Tel Aviv – Israel’s military operation against Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza will continue “with full force”, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.
“We are acting now, for as long as necessary, to restore calm . . . . It will take time,” Netanyahu warned.
Gaza officials said 42 people, including 16 women and ten children, died in the latest Israeli air strikes.
Ten people, including two children, have been killed in rocket attacks on Israel since Monday, Israel said.
The overall death toll in Gaza now stands at 197 people, including 58 children and 34 women, with 1 235 injured, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry. Israel says dozens of militants are among the dead.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting, with international mediators hoping to broker a ceasefire.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres opened the meeting by describing the violence as “utterly appalling” and said the fighting must stop immediately.
Sunday was the deadliest day so far
The Israeli air strikes hit a busy street in Gaza just after midnight on Sunday, causing at least three buildings to collapse and dozens of deaths.
Hamas launched barrage of rockets towards southern Israel overnight and during the afternoon.
Millions of Israelis scrambled to safe rooms or shelters as sirens went off. Palestinians also tried to take precautions, but in the densely packed and poorly resourced Gaza Strip, many had nowhere to go.
Riyad Eshkuntana told Reuters news agency he put his daughters to sleep in a room of his house that he thought was the furthest from the explosions. Only one of his daughters, Suzy, six, survived the night. His wife and three other children died.
“I ran to check upon the girls,” said Eshkuntana. “My wife jumped, she hugged the girls to take them out from the room, then a second airstrike hit the room. . . . The ceilings were destroyed and I was under the rubble.”
The Israeli military later said it had been conducted a strikes on a militant tunnel system in the area. The tunnels’ collapsed caused the houses above to collapse as well, leading to unintended civilian casualties, it said.
Israel’s military says it has been targeting leaders and infrastructure linked to Hamas.
It said it had also struck the homes of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and his brother Muhammad Sinwar, whom it described as head of logistics and manpower for the movement.
It was unlikely they were at home at the time of the strikes, according to the Associated Press news agency.
Gazan rescue workers spent the day trying to rescue people from under the debris from the strikes.
The Palestinian health ministry said a doctor was among the dead: Dr Ayman Abu Al-Ouf, head of internal medicine at Shifa hospital and part of the coronavirus team. (BBC)
