Live blog: Gaza under attack
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"For many Gazans, and not just Hamas supporters, it’s worth risking more bombardment and now the ground incursion, for a chance to change that unacceptable status quo. A cease-fire that fails to resolve the salary crisis and open Gaza’s border with Egypt will not last. It is unsustainable for Gaza to remain cut off from the world and administered by employees working without pay.
"The current escalation in Gaza is a direct result of the choice by Israel and the West to obstruct the implementation of the April 2014 Palestinian reconciliation agreement. The road out of the crisis is a reversal of that policy." – wrote Nathan Thrall in the New York Times.
Fifty-five Gazans were killed on Friday as Israel pressed a major ground offensive in the coastal enclave, raising the overall Palestinian death toll since July 8 to 296, Palestinian medics said.
The latest Palestinian deaths included three members of a family killed in an Israeli strike in southern Gaza's Rafah, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra.
Shortly before, eight members of a single family -- two men, two women and four children -- were killed in tank shelling on their home in northern Gaza's Beit Hanun.
Many of the deaths were in southern Khan Yunis and Rafah, where a five-month-old baby was among those killed.
Figures provided by the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights show civilians account for more than 80 percent of the victims of Israel's assault since July 8.
At least 2,200 Palestinians have also been wounded.
MEE's Dylan Collins in Gaza attended a funeral for three children killed by Israel's assault on the coastal enclave, taking a series of photos cataloguing the grief and anger felt by the community.
Australian television channel ABC caught on video the moment an Israeli missile hit an area in the north of the Gaza Strip on Friday night.
Abu Obaida, spokesperson for Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades, has given a public statement on the situation in Gaza.
“We are winning this battle and our people will soon celebrate a victory. Al-Qassam has hand made a quarter of a million explosives.”
“We will continue to fight this enemy until it takes our demands seriously.”
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will travel to the Middle East on Saturday, "to help mediate the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas," a UN official said at the emergency Security Council session.
The US ambassador to the UN, Samatha Power, spoke at the emergency Security Council meeting and strongly criticised the role played by Hamas in the current Gaza crisis:
“The US are deeply concerned by Hamas attacks. The UN in Gaza found 20 Hamas rockets in one school…such tactics are indefensible. The only way to end this is an immediate cessation of rocket attacks from Hamas and a de-escalation in hostilities.”
Israel's ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, has spoken out in defence of his country's assault on Gaza at the Security Council.
“Our forces are fighting in Gaza but they are not fighting the people of Gaza. We operating only against terrorist targets and genuinely regret any civilian casualties.”
“Hamas uses Palestinian casualties to further a propaganda campaign…in the hope of pressuring the international community to press for Israel to answer its demands.”
“The Jewish people believe in the value of life, Hamas believe in taking life.”
The UN Security Council is holding an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis in Gaza.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian envoy to the UN, said:
“Before the eyes of the world Israel is waging war against a defenceless population beaching human rights and international law, destroying the pillars of the international system.”
“The Security Council continues to stand aside as Israel continues to flagrantly violate the UN’s resolutions.”
“We call on the Security Council to adopt a resolution condemning Israel’s military aggression against the Palestinian civilian population, calling for its immediate cessation, and urging the lifting of the blockade and ensuring the protection of the Palestinian people.”
“Israel as the occupying power has forfeited its legal obligations.”
