Live blog: Gaza under attack
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The Jerusalem Post is reporting that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday that it is “extortion” if Gazan groups do not agree to end the ceasefire and continue to fire rockets at Israel.
In the UN session on Wednesday Lieberman is also reported to have told Kerry that Israel is prepared for all eventualities and thanked Kerry for Washington’s “unflinching support”.
Lieberman also responded to the UN's criticisms of Israel for attacking UN facilities as “outrageous, unacceptable, and unjustifiable.”
With the temporary ceasefire having held for one more night but due to end Friday at 8am, unless an extention is agreed upon, attention is turning to getting the wounded out of Gaza for urgent medical treatment or at least to getting medical supplies in:
Maha is 7. Mum is dead. She's paralysed from neck down. DRs say she needs to get out of gaza for treatment. Please RT pic.twitter.com/OVXIZmHT17
A spokeswoman for the Israeli army said 27,000 reservists called up for the conflict have been sent home, reports AFP, leaving a force of 55,000 still on active duty, in another sign of growing hopes for long-term quiet.
Israel says it has no problem extending the ceasefire, which is due to end tomorrow, but continues to leave a mass of troops on the border, whereas Hamas denies that there has been any agreement made to extend the ceasefire yet.
As of Thursday 7 August:
- The temporary ceasefire seems to have held for the most part overnight as we now head into day three. The ceasefire is due to end tomorrow unless both sides can agree to it continuing.
- The death tolls so far stands at 1876 Palestinians killed according to the Gazan Ministry of Health. The UN say most of them are civilians.
- On the Israeli side 64 Israeli soldiers are believed to have been killed as well as three civilians.
Senior Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouq has denied reports about extending a three-day ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip.
"There is no agreement on extending the lull with Israel," Abu Marzouq wrote on his Twitter account on Wednesday.
The denial came shortly after an Israeli official said that his government had agreed to extend the ceasefire with Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip.
It took us years to recover from Israel’s first war on Gaza, the second as brief and less intense but left a huge mental and physical damage behind. How much will Gaza and its infrastructure need to recover? And will we ever forget all the horror we experienced?
While Gaza's parks remained mostly empty and closed as children grieve the loss of their homes and loved ones, a few kids were seen swimming on the beaches of the coastal enclave, reported Mohammed Asad to MEE.
Others rode their bicycles or played among the rubble on the streets of the Gaza Strip.
Dozens of Dutch activists were arrested on Tuesday at a sit in outside the Israeli embassy in the Netherlands. Demonstrators tried to block traffic as police, many on horseback, gathered in large numbers. Photographer Jonathan Rashad captured these powerful images for MEE.
An analysis of the #GazaUnderAttack and #IsraelUnderFire hashtags shows that Palestine was receiving more attention on social media, according to social media analytics site Topsy.
@YourAnonNews Israel lost the social media war. #GazaUnderAttack #IsraelUnderFire #ProtectiveEdge pic.twitter.com/jmDNCB9lrM
Campaigners are calling on the British government to send a hospital ship to the Gaza Strip to treat Palestinians in urgent need of medical attention as a result of an Israeli military offensive.
Penzance resident, warned of a health crisis which is looming for "trapped civilians with dire conditions" in.
"Doctors [the main Gaza City Shifa hospital] operate on the floor and in corridors. People die untreated. Only one x-ray machine is working with a lack of doctors, nurses, paramedics, and the most basic equipment,” said Veronica Vickery, who started the petition on Sunday.
Ann Haycock, who is supporting the campaign added: "I know that the political situation is complicated, but a humanitarian intervention is now necessary."
The campaign is backed by West Cornwall MP Andrew George.
"The UK should not just sit back and do nothing. Britain should be at the forefront of the humanitarian response to the tragic events in Gaza," he said.
