Ghaza sees no letup in bloodshed with over 39 Palestinians killed on Thursday, raising the overall Palestinian toll to 1,435. On Wednesday, almost 137 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces, including 19 who died in a strike on a crowded market place and another 17 at the UN school.
Despite all this, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that no ceasefire could stop Israel’s army from continuing to destroy cross-border tunnels used by Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip.
“Until now, we have destroyed dozens of tunnels and we are determined to finish this mission — with or without a ceasefire,” Netanyahu said at the start of a special cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv.
“So I will not accept any (truce) proposal that does not allow the (army) to complete this work for the security of Israel’s citizens.”
Israel called up 16,000 reservist soldiers Thursday as it planned to expand its attacks on Gaza.
The extra 16,000 brought the total number of reserve troops called up to 86,000. Israel has not said how many troops are currently engaged in the fighting inside the Gaza Strip.
While talking to Al Jazeera TV, United Nations spokesman Mr Chris Gunness, simply burst into tears when he was asked to explain the sufferings in Gaza. He said: “There are times when tears speak more eloquently than words.
“Mine pale into insignificance compared with Gaza’s.
“UNRWA is overwhelmed in Gaza. We have reached breaking point; our staff are being killed, our shelters overflowing.
“Where will it end … UNRWA now has 225,178 displaced in 86 shelters.
“But Gaza is being destroyed. So when the war is over, where will these people go?”
Pentagon approves more arms for Israel
And Washington said it had agreed to restock Israel’s dwindling supplies of ammunition, despite increasing international concern over the death toll in Gaza.
According to figures from the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights, some 90 percent percent of the victims are civilians. Of the civilian dead, some 350 to 400 were children.
Following the Israeli shelling of a UN school in northern Gaza on Wednesday which killed 17, UN human rights chief Navi Pillay slammed Israel for its attacks on homes, schools, and hospitals, accusing it of “deliberate defiance” of international law.
“None of this appears to me to be accidental,” she told reporters.
“There appears to be deliberate defiance of obligations that international law imposes on Israel.”
The shelling of the school also drew sharp condemnation from UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who described it as “reprehensible,” as well as from Washington.
Despite all this, the Pentagon confirmed it had granted an Israeli request for ammunition, including some from a stockpile stored by the US military on the ground in Israel for emergency use.
Rights group Amnesty International had urged Washington to halt arms supplies to Israel.
Israel on the other hand, seems to have little Israeli appetite for a truce, with a senior official telling Haaretz newspaper that a ceasefire was not even close.