Significant rise in casualties as Israel expands ground operation

There was a significant increase in casualties on both sides yesterday as Israeli forces expanded their ground operation in Gaza.

More than 60 residents of the densely populated Sajaiyya neighbourhood in eastern Gaza city were killed and more than 200 wounded in the most intense fighting since Israel launched “Operation Protective Edge”, now in its 14th day. It is unclear how many of the fatalities were militants.

Israeli troops, backed by tanks and aerial support, battled militants in the neighbourhood, home to 80,000 residents. Thirteen soldiers from the Golani infantry brigade were killed in the fighting; seven when a militant fired an anti-tank missile at an armoured personnel carrier.

Brief truce

The sides agreed to a two-hour humanitarian pause in the afternoon to allow ambulances to reach the dead and wounded, some of whom were trapped in collapsed buildings. However, the fighting resumed within an hour, after Israel accused Hamas of violating the truce. A second truce went into effect later in the afternoon.

Israeli officials said they targeted Sajaiyya because militants had fired more than 150 rockets at Israel from the neighbourhood over the past two weeks. Israel claimed Sajaiyya also had several tunnel openings and weapons storage facilities.

Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar called for an international investigation into “Israeli massacres”.

UN agency Unrwa confirmed yesterday that more than 60,000 Palestinians had left their homes and sought a safe haven in UN compounds.

Despite the intensity of the fighting in Gaza, militant rocket fire continued against Israeli population centres yesterday.

Five Israeli soldiers, killed in the weekend fighting, were buried yesterday. Two were killed when militants got into Israel through a tunnel and opened fire on Israeli military vehicles patrolling the Israeli side of the border.

The casualty figures have soared since Israel launched its ground offensive on Thursday night.

According to Palestinian figures, more than 410 residents have been killed so far, most of them civilians, with 2,500 wounded.

Eighteen Israeli soldiers and two civilians have been killed.

Israel has claimed that it killed 130 militants since the start of the ground offensive.

The army’s top priority, it says, remains the destruction of Hamas attack tunnels, which militants can use to get into Israel. Troops have so far discovered 36 tunnel shafts and 14 tunnels.

‘Whatever action necessary’

Israeli prime minister

Binyamin Netanyahu

vowed that Israel would take “whatever action is necessary” to halt Hamas’s cross-border rocket attacks and restore calm, but insisted that the Israeli army was doing its utmost to avoid civilian casualties.

It is expected that the heavy casualties in yesterday's battles in Sajaiyya will act as a catalyst for international ceasefire efforts. Both US secretary of state John Kerry and UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon are due to arrive in Israel tomorrow.

Mr Kerry blamed Hamas for “stubbornly refusing” Egyptian ceasefire efforts, and defended Israel’s right to act against Hamas tunnels and rocket launchers.

Last night the Israeli army opened a field hospital for Palestinians at the Erez crossing to Gaza.