This article titled “Netanyahu says ceasefire with Hamas off the agenda – live updates” was written by Matthew Weaver, for theguardian.com on Thursday 10th July 2014 13.35 UTC
2.33pm BST
French journalist Emilie Baujard tweets a picture of the remains of the al-Hadj family house destroyed in an attack described earlier by Peter Beaumont.
Updated
at 2.35pm BST
2.12pm BST
The Israeli military has updated its rocket fire tally to 442 in three days.
The Wall Street Journal has a useful graphic illustrating the range of Hamas’ rocket arsenal.
2.08pm BST
Sky News has footage from a Gaza hospital where a four-year-old girl lay unconscious, not knowing her entire immediate family had been killed in the conflict.
2.01pm BST
Gaza health ministry has named 83 people it says have been killed since operation protective edge was launched on Tuesday.
1.44pm BST
Summary
Here’s a summary of the latest developments:
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, appears to have ruled out any prospect of an imminent ceasefire with Hamas as Israel’s offensive against Gaza continued. “I am not talking to anybody about a ceasefire right now. It’s not even on the agenda,” he told a Knesset committee.
More than 80 Palestinians have been killed since the launch of an offensive aimed at preventing rocket attacks from Gaza. The victims include more than 20 children, according to Gaza’s health ministry. In one of the most deadly attacks up to nine youths were killed in a coffee shop while watching last night’s World Cup semi-final.
Israel says 365 rockets have been fired from Gaza in the last three days, including three that landed in a residential area in Negev. There have no reports of deaths from the rocket fire, as Israel’s Iron Dome missile protection system continues to intercept rockets over the most populated areas.
Egypt temporarily opened the Rafah crossing to allow the transfer of wounded patients from Gaza’s stretched health system. The patients will be treated at hospitals in Sinai.
The Israeli air force stepped up its assault on the Gaza Strip overnight as it hit more than 300 Hamas targets in response to rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave. “We aimed at 322 targets in Gaza overnight, taking to 750 the total number of Hamas targets hit by the army since the start of Operation Protective Edge,” Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner told reporters.
The UN security council is to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis. Secretary general, Ban Ki-moon said “Gaza is on knife edge” as he urged Israeli restraint and a halt to rocket fire from Gaza.
1.20pm BST
Death toll rises to 84 people
The number of Palestinians killed has risen to 84 people, since the offensive was launched, according to Gaza’ ministry of health spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra.
Update: The figure was later revised down to 83.
In a Facebook update al-Qudra said the latest victims included a four-year-old girl.
Save the Children called for an immediate halt to the violence.
Its co-country director in the occupied Palestinian territory, David Hassell, said:
Children are the ones who always, inevitably, bear the worst consequences of any armed conflict. The use of explosive weapons in populated areas kills children and destroys vital infrastructure. International law is clear that indiscriminate attacks are prohibited. Israeli and Palestinian children have the right to be freed of the fear of living constantly under fire.
Updated
at 2.02pm BST
1.11pm BST
There are reports that a senior Hamas commander Aiman Sayam, believed to be in charge of rocket attacks, has been killed in an air strike.
If confirmed it would be the first assasination of the “major Hamas commander” since the start of the operation, according to Haaretz columnist Anshel Pfeffer.
But Hamas has denied that Sayam was killed, according to Reuters reporter Nidal al-Mughrabi.
12.24pm BST
“Knock on the roof” warnings do not help save civilians lives as the Israeli military claims, according to the University of London’s Forensic Architecture centre at Goldsmiths which carried out a UN study into how the tactic operated during Operation Cast Lead in 2009.
Eyal Weizman, director of the centre, said:
The Israeli Defence Forces are again using a tactic in their attack on Gaza that they claim is aimed at saving lives—despite it having a track record of leading to the death of civilians, including women and children. So called “roof knock” strikes involve a drone firing a low- or none-explosive missile at the roof of a building that is to be destroyed. The missile is followed a short time later by a bomb that flattens the house—but exactly how long after is not known by the inhabitants.
The tactic first came to light after the 2008/9 offensive on Gaza. One of the case studies that we at Forensic Architecture produced for the UN Special Rapporteur on Counter Terrorism’s inquiry into drone strikes focused on an attack on the Salha family in Beit Lahiya on 9 January 2009. A missile was fired at the roof of the family’s home, but they did not know that this constituted a warning. After moments of terrified confusion, the family began to leave the house. However, before they could all safely leave, a bomb was dropped, and six women and children were killed.
At a time when most attacks in Gaza are on houses, the Israeli military is anxious to present themselves as trying to avoid civilian casualties. Yesterday it released a video showing a warning missile being fired at a house that it then deciding not to strike. However, in the attack on the home of Odeh Ahmad Mohammed Kaware, Defence for Children International Palestine reported that a warning missile was followed by a bomb that killed seven people, including five children. This should be taken as further confirmation that the use of this tactic should be stopped immediately.
Not only is it illegal to fire a missile at a civilian to warn them, the missiles also frequently penetrate the roofs they are intended to bounce off, further endangering civilian lives. Israeli military lawyers argue that after residents of a building have been warned, they can be considered as combatants and legitimately targeted. This is a gross misuse of international law that enables the Israeli military to justify attacks on buildings in built up areas, populated by civilians, that they would otherwise be unable to legally carry out.
Forensic Architecture released this video to explain its findings on the 2009 incident.
Updated
at 12.26pm BST
12.05pm BST
Netanyahu: ‘ceasefire off the agenda’
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, appears to have ruled out any prospect of an imminent ceasefire with Hamas, according to Haaretz.
“I am not talking to anybody about a ceasefire right now. It’s not even on the agenda,” it quoted him telling the Knesset foreign affairs and defence committee.
11.51am BST
Egypt has denied it is taking a backseat in the Gaza conflict, after it was accused of failing to coordinate behind-the-scenes negotiations between Israel and Hamas, writes Patrick Kingsley in Cairo.
“We are in full contact and pushing very hard to provide all humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians in Gaza,” said Egypt’s foreign ministry spokesman this morning, as Egypt finally opened its crossing to Gaza to allow the most critical invalids access to a Sinai hospital.
But the Egyptian foreign minister has not cut short a trip to Africa and the Middle East, and Egypt has spent months distancing itself from Hamas – destroying most of the tunnels linking Egypt and Gaza, and banning the group inside Egypt. “It’s our business to see the Palestinian Authority run the Gaza Strip, to have somebody to deal with,” one senior military official told the Guardian in April.
“We don’t have a relationship with Hamas. We see them as a terrorist organisation that is allied to the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Interestingly, there have been no rallies in solidarity with Gaza in Egypt yet – perhaps due to the vilification of Hamas in Egypt since last July.
11.47am BST
Ma’an news agency has more details on the attacks on Khan Younis described in the previous post by Peter Beaumont.
Israeli warplanes targeted a building in Khan Younis, killing eight members of the al-Hadj family. Over 30 people were injured in the strike.
Most of the victims were children, health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra, said, adding that Israeli forces bombed the building without a warning or asking them to evacuate.
Tariq al-Hadj, Najla al-Hadj, Aminah al-Hadj, Saad al-Hadj, Omar al-Hadj, Aminah al-Hadj, and Basimah al-Hadj, 57, were named as the victims.
Earlier, nine Palestinians were killed and at least 10 injured when Israel targeted Waqt al-Marah coffee shop on a Khan Younis beach.
Locals said dozens of people were watching the World Cup semi-final game when Israel fired a missile at the crowd.
Muhammad Khalid Qannan, his brother Ibrahim, Hamdi Kamil Sawali, Suleiman al-Astal, Ahmad al-Astal, Mousa al-Astal and Muhammad al-Aqqad were identified as some of the victims.
Muhammad Ihsan Farawneh, 18, was found dead on Thursday under the rubble of the cafe.
Updated
at 2.34pm BST
11.40am BST
At least sixteen people were killed in separate strikes on Khan Younis in southern Gaza, including a group of teenagers watching the World Cup in a bar, Peter Beaumont reports from the scene of the deadliest attacks so far.
One of the attacks hit the house that was believed to belong to a Hamas leader, he said in a telephone update.
He wasn’t at home, but eight of his relatives were who got killed when two missiles struck. And it wasn’t just their house that got destroyed, there were about seven buildings around that were all quite badly damaged.
I went into the house opposite and it was quite miraculous that anyone survived. The blast flew through three walls, including into a bedroom where three teenage girls were sleeping.
In another attack on a beach side cafe, eight or nine youths were killed at around 11.30pm as they were watching last night’s World Cup semi-final.
Neighbours said they had no electricity so they came here to this row of beach cafes to watch the football. Most of them were from two families, most of them were teenagers.
Peter also confirmed an increase in air strikes. “Last night was very noisy in Gaza City. There was an air strike about 300 or 400m from our hotel. It does seem to be intensifying,” he said.
And Gazans have been stockpiling supplies amid widespread concern that Israel is preparing a ground invasion, he said.
He added that there was little sign of opposition to the continued rocket fire from Gaza.
What most people say is that ‘we’ve just got nothing to lose, we don’t have jobs, the economy is on its knees, we don’t see where a future is’. With civilians being killed … rather than turning people against Hamas it seems to be strengthening their support. People want retaliation.
10.37am BST
Gaza’s health ministry says 22 Palestinian children have been killed since Israel’s operation protective edge, was launched against Gaza on Tuesday.
The total deathtoll has increased to 78 people, the ministry claimed.
The campaign Defense for Children International Palestine said it has verified the deaths of 14 children, in the first two days of the offensive.
It provides the names and details in a daily list
Children killed in on Wednesday
Mohammad Ibrahim Fayeq al-Masri, 14, from the northern Gaza city of Beit Hanoun
Mohammad Fakher Mustafa Jamal Malaka, 3, from Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood
Mohammad Iyad Salem Areef, 9, rom Gaza City’s Al-Shujaiyah neighbourhood
Amir Iyad Salem Areef, 11, from Gaza City’s Al-Shujaiyah neighbourhood
Mohammad Khalaf Odeh al-Nawasra, 1, from Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza
Nidal Khalaf Odeh al-Nawasra, 3, from Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza
Ranim Jawdat Abdul-Karim Abdul-Ghafoor, 1, from Al-Qarara near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis
Children killed on Tuesday
Hussein Yousef Hussein Karawe, 13, from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis
Basem Salem Hussein Karawe, 10, from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis
Mohammad Ali Faraj Karawe, 12, from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis
Abdullah Hamed Karawe, 6, from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis
Kasem Jaber Adwan Karawe, 12, from the southern Gaza city of Khan
YounisSeraj Abed al-Aal, 8, from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis
Ahmad Nael Mahdi, 15, from Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood
The campaign said it was trying to confirm reports that at least three more children were killed on Wednesday.
10.18am BST
The latest developments in the conflict are summarised in this map:
10.17am BST
Israelis are using a mobile phone app and social media to help cope with the continuing rocket attacks from Gaza, writes Orlando Crowcroft in Jerusalem.
Two Israeli web developers designed the Red Alert: Israel app during Israel’s 2012 war with Hamas in Gaza. The app notifies mobile phone users at the same time as air raid sirens go off. This time around, the developers – Ari Sprung and Kobi Snir – have improved the app so that users can see the time and status of rockets attacks anywhere in Israel. Allowing people to monitor events in other cities, if their family and friends are there.
In Jerusalem, the municipality has been using social media to engage with residents seeking their local bomb shelters. After the municipality announced that it was opening shelters across the city on Tuesday, many users tweeted the mayor’s account to say that shelters were locked or that nobody was there. Over the past two days, the municipality has used this advice to send out teams to improve the city’s shelters – many of which have been unused for years.
Isreal’s ambassador to the US, Ron Dermer, showed the Red Alert app to US politicians earlier this week.
10.01am BST
AFP has more on Egypt’s decision to open the Rafah border crossing for those wounded in Gaza.
Hospitals in north Sinai, which borders Gaza and Israel, have been placed on standby to receive the Palestinians, Egypt’s official MENA news agency reported.
The crossing is usually closed, with Egyptian officials citing the tense security situation in Sinai, where the army is battling an Islamist insurgency.
Rafah is Gaza’s only border crossing that bypasses Israel.
9.54am BST
Injured Palestinians to be transferred to Egypt
The Rafah crossing is to be temporarily opened to allow injured Palestinians to be transferred to hospitals in Egypt as Gaza’s health system struggles to cope with the volume of casualties, according to a senior aid worker in Gaza City.
The crossing was due to be opened at 10am local time, according to Fikr Shalltoot, director of programmes for Medical Aid for Palestinians. Speaking to the Guardian from MAP’s offices in Gaza City, she said:
It is very difficult for hospitals to cope. For health staff it is very difficult for them to reach their work. It’s really problematic even if the Rafah crossing is opened. If the aggression continues we expect more casualties. This will be very overwhelming for hospitals which are already suffering from severe shortages of drugs, fuel and the lack of electricity.
Every minute you see ambulances coming in and private cars bringing in new casualties. Staff are trying their best in emergency rooms, but sometimes the emergency rooms are unable to cope. It’s a chaotic situation.
Shalltoot said the Israeli offensive was stepped up overnight.
The situation is still very very bad. Last night it was extremely difficult. The destruction of houses has the most impact on the number of casualties. Until this morning the figures were more than 550 injured and more than 75 were killed.
They [the Israelis] have intensified the air strikes. There is naval firing from sea, there is shelling from tanks in addition to the air strikes.
Shalltoot said she feared Israel would launch a ground offensive unless the international community intervened. “It could happen any minute,” she said.
Updated
at 9.58am BST
8.46am BST
The IDF says it estimates that Hamas’ rockets arsenal consists of 6,000 rockets, including “tens” of long-range missiles capable of reaching up to 200km and more than 400 with a range of up to 80km.
In a briefing note it broke down the estimated arsenal by range:
Short range (15-20 km)
Over 1,000 units of self-produced rockets (15 km)
Over 2,500 units of smuggled rockets (15 km)
Approx. 200 units of self-produced Grad rockets (20 km)
Approx. 200 units of smuggled Grad rockets (20 km)
Medium range (up to 45 km)
Approx. 200 units of self-produced improved Grad rockets (45 km)
Approx. 1,000 units of smuggled improved Grad rockets (45 km)
Medium-Long range (up to 80 km)
Over 400 units of self-produced medium range rockets
Several dozens of rockets (80 km)
Long range (100-200 km)
Tens of long-range rockets (100-200 km)
Stratfor, the US security firm, has published this graphic on one of the medium-long range rockets.
8.09am BST
Rocket fragments have landed in Tel Aviv, according to Haaretz, after Israeli military reports that at least one Gaza launched missile was intercepted over the city.
Tel Aviv resident Elizabeth Tsurkov said there are reports that the rocket was diverted by the Iron Dome protection system.
8.00am BST
The number of Palestinians killed in the offensive has reached 76 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
A further 535 people have been injured, according to spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra.
He said one of the most recent victims was a five-year-old child.
7.46am BST
The international community must intervene to stop Israel’s campaign of “collective punishment” against Gaza, argues Mustafa Barghouti, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
Writing for Comment is free he says:
This is an attack on all Palestinians. Most of the victims have been civilians. Many of those who will die in the continuing air strikes, as well as in any ground action, will be ordinary people. And we know from past experience that a large number of those civilians will be children. In Israel’s last major attack on the Gaza Strip in 2008/9, 89 children were killed by the Israeli army’s own admission – and many other estimates put the total far higher …
The international community should intervene to restrain Israel’s army, which has called up 40,000 reserve soldiers. World leaders must stop the escalation to protect the Palestinian people and prevent further slaughter, the like of which we have witnessed this week.
Updated
at 7.50am BST
7.39am BST
Summary
Welcome to our continuing coverage of Israel’s escalating offensive against Hamas-led Gaza.
Here’s a roundup of the latest developments:
The Israeli air force stepped up its assault on the Gaza Strip overnight as it hit more than 300 Hamas targets in response to rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave. “We aimed at 322 targets in Gaza overnight, taking to 750 the total number of Hamas targets hit by the army since the start of Operation Protective Edge,” Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner told reporters. Sixty-one Palestinians have been killed in the violence, more than 50 of them civilians, Palestinian medical officials said.
Eight members of a family, including five children, were killed on Thursday morning in the deadliest single bombing raid since the start of the offensive. The attack destroyed at least two homes in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Sixty-one Palestinians have been killed in the violence, more than 50 of them civilians, Palestinian medical officials said.
The UN security council is to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis. Secretary general, Ban Ki-moon said “Gaza is on knife edge” as he urged Israeli restraint and a halt to rocket fire from Gaza.
Another rocket was intercepted over Tel Aviv after air raids sirens were sounded across the city. Israel’s Iron Dome missile protection system has shot down seven rockets so far on Thursday.
In the first two days of the offensive 15 women and children were killed amid claims that in four air strikes only women and children were killed. According to an emergency services spokesman, Ashraf al-Qudra, in one incident a missile struck a house in Al-Maghazi, a beachside refugee camp near Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, killing a mother and her four children. Earlier, another two women and four children died in a series of raids to the north and east of Gaza City.
Jerusalem was preparing hundreds of bomb shelters on Wednesday after rockets fired from Gaza targeted the city for the first time since Israel’s 2012 war with Hamas. Thousands of residents headed to shelters on Tuesday night after four rockets were fired at the city just before 10pm. Residents reported hearing loud thuds as Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system intercepted the rockets.
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