The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu says his country’s military campaign in Gaza will continue with “full force,” as 42 people are reported to have died in an airstrike early on Sunday.
The Sunday airstrike had flattened three buildings.
The most deadly single Israeli attack of the week-long conflict brings the number who have died in the Palestinian territory since the fighting erupted last Monday to 192, including 58 children.
Ten people in Israel have been killed, including a five-year-old boy and a soldier, as militants fired rockets from Gaza and some got through its ‘Iron Dome’ air defence system.
Call to end violence
The PM’s comments come as the UN Security Council met to discuss the violence, with the UN’s Secretary General Antonio Guterres calling for an immediate end to the violence.
Mr Netanyahu said in a televised speech: “Our campaign against the terrorist organisations is continuing with full force. We are acting now, for as long as necessary, to restore calm and quiet to you, Israel’s citizens. It will take time.”
Israel’s military said the deaths were “unintentional” and it had been targeting a militant tunnel system which collapsed, causing homes to collapse as well.
Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad say 20 fighters have been killed since the violence broke out – but Israel claimed the real number was far higher as it released the names and photos of two dozen alleged operatives it said were “eliminated.
Opening a meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the ongoing conflict, the Secretary General, Antonio Guterres said ”the hostilities were “utterly appalling” and the fighting must stop immediately.”
He said; “the United Nations is actively engaging all sides towards an immediate ceasefire” but warned that the violence in Gaza “only perpetuates the cycles of death, destruction and despair, and pushes farther to the horizon any hopes of coexistence and peace.”
The organisation’s Peace Envoy, Tor Wennesland called on the international community to “take action now tenable the parties to step back from the brink.”
Palestinian Foreign Minister, Riyad al Malki told the Security Council that “there are no words that can describe the horrors that our people are enduring,” listing families and children killed by Israeli airstrikes.
“Israel is killing Palestinians in Gaza, one family at a time.
”Israel is trying to uproot Palestinians from Jerusalem. It’s expelling families, one home, neighbourhood at a time. Israel is executing our people, committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
He added: “Each time Israel hears a Foreign leader speak of its right to defend itself, it is further emboldened to continue murdering entire families in their sleep.”
The Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said Israel’s response to indiscriminate attacks by Hamas strictly adhered to international law and that the country was taking “unparalleled steps to prevent civilian casualties.”
“Israel uses its missiles to protect its children. Hamas uses children to protect its missiles,” he stated.
SKY