Medics: Israel strike kills 11 civilians in Gaza

Palestinian firefighters extinguish a fire after an Israeli airstrike on a house in al-Shijaia, in Gaza, Nov. 18, 2012. / Rex Features via AP Images

Updated 4:39 p.m. ET

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip An Israeli missile flattened a two-story house in a residential neighborhood of Gaza City on Sunday, killing at least 11 civilians, mostly women and children, Palestinian medical officials said, as Israel expanded a military offensive to target homes of wanted militants.

The attack, which Israel said targeted a militant, was the single deadliest incident of the five-day-old Israeli operation and hiked a toll Sunday that was already the highest number of civilians killed in one day, according to Gaza medics. The bloodshed is likely to raise international pressure for a cease-fire, with Egypt taking the leading role in mediating between Israel and Hamas.

• Reporters Without Borders condemns Gaza strikes
• Israeli envoy in Egypt for cease-fire talks
• Lull in Gaza rocket fire, Israel keeps up strikes

President Barack Obama said he had been in touch with the leaders of Israel, Egypt, and Turkey in an effort to halt the fighting. "We're going to have to see what kind of progress we can make in the next 24, 36, 48 hours," he said.

Obama cautioned against a potential Israeli ground invasion into Gaza, warning it could only deepen its death toll. At the same time, he blamed Palestinian militants for starting the round of fighting by raining rockets onto Israel, and he defended Israel's right to defend itself.

"Israel has every right to expect that it does not have missiles fired into its territory," Obama said in Thailand at the start of a three-nation tour in Asia.

An Israeli envoy arrived in Cairo on Sunday and held talks with Egyptian officials on a ceasefire, according to Egyptian security officials and Nabil Shaath, a top aide of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who was in the Egyptian capital.

Israelis inspect damage to a house that was hit by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip on November 18, 2012 in Ofakim, Israel.

/ Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images

But Israel and Gaza's militant Hamas rulers remain far apart on any terms for a halt in the bloodshed, which has killed 70 Palestinians -- including 36 civilians, according to Gaza health officials -- and three Israeli civilians.

Hamas is linking a truce deal to a complete lifting of the border blockade on Gaza imposed since Islamists seized the territory by force. Hamas also seeks Israeli guarantees to halt targeted killings of its leaders and military commanders. Israeli officials reject such demands. They say they are not interested in a "timeout," and want firm guarantees that militant rocket fire into Israel will finally end. Past ceasefires have been short lived.

As the offensive moved forward, Israel found itself at a crossroads -- on the cusp of launching a ground offensive into Gaza to strike an even tougher blow against Hamas, or pursuing Egyptian-led truce efforts.

"The Israeli military is prepared to significantly expand the operation," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting.

• Israel says it knocked out Hamas drone program
• Obama: Israel has "right to defend itself"
• McCain suggests Bill Clinton or other "high-ranking" official to lead Mideast talks

At the same time, Gaza militants continued their barrage of rocket fire at Israel, firing more than 100, including two at Tel Aviv. More than 10 Israelis were injured by shrapnel, two moderately, according to police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld. Israel's "Iron Dome" rocket-defense system shot down at least 30 rockets, including the ones aimed at Tel Aviv.

Israel's announcement Sunday that it was widening its campaign to target homes of militants appeared to mark a new and risky phase of the operation, given the likelihood of civilian casualties in the densely populated territory of 1.5 million Palestinians. Israel launched the offensive Wednesday in a bid to end months of intensifying rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

The day's deadliest strike hit the home of the Daloo family in Gaza City, reducing the structure to rubble.

Frantic rescuers pulled the bodies of several children from the ruins of the house, including a toddler and a 5-year-old, as survivors and bystanders screamed in grief. Later, the bodies of the children were laid out in the morgue of Gaza City's Shifa Hospital.

Among the 11 dead were four small children and five women, including an 80-year-old, Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra said.

In a statement, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was "deeply saddened" by the deaths of the civilians and "alarmed by the continuing firing of rockets against Israeli towns."

Israeli military spokesman Brig Gen. Yoav Mordechai told Channel 2 TV that the Israeli navy had targeted the building and killed a "global jihad" militant.

• no previous page
• next

1/2

[Elbonian2u]

Israeli media reports that the family killed with this bombing was not the Hamas militant targeted by Israel. From Haaretz: 10:30 P.M. Earlier reports by the IDF Spokesman to the effect that Israel assassinated the head of Hamas' rocket-launching unit Yehiya Rabiah today in an aerial bombing in northern Gaza appear to have been inaccurate. Apparently, the IAF mistakenly bombed the home of one of his neighbors, Mohammed a-Dallo, killing 10 members of his family and two of his neighbors. Rabiah seems to have survived the attack.

[dterner]

That is the unfortunate consequence of Hamas putting their military inside civilian populations, using them as human shields and firing rockets from inside residential neighborhoods. Since Hamas INTENTIONALLY targets civilians and INTENTIONALLY hides behind civilians, in violation of international rules of warfare, and Israel if/when it kills civilians does so UNINTENTIONALLY, there is NO moral equivalence, and the world has to learn to differentiate. Hamas AIMS at non-combattants. Israel does its best to avoid them.

[McBears1]

Israel can do a lot but completely stopping the rockets requires going to the real source--Iran--and it is here Israel faces a problem lacking fleet ships, operational stealth technology, and strategic bombers--planes like B1s, B2s, and B52s that can become practically stationary over a given area and whose inventory is almost all precision munitions some of which are so large no Israeli plane can carry. Real true U.S. military intervention would end this in a day

[Helen_Waite]

Hamas never watched "War Games", in which Joshua, the main character, delivers the punchline after earnestly playing the game simulation "Global Thermonuclear War": "the only winning move is not to play". And so it is and will be in any game Hamas seems capable of playing with Israel, regardless of who appears to be on their side.

[sandiegopete]

There will always be civilian casualties when there is bombing and/or rocket attacks. We knew that when we carpet bombed Dresden. Hamas knew that when they started sending rockets into Israel.

All one has to say is that there is a war going on. Civilian casualties are always a part of any war.

[sandiegopete]

Friend: I don't know by what convoluted reasoning you concluded that my comment endorsed civilian casualties. Please explain.

On the other side of the coin, if an enemy places rocket launchers in the middle of a civilian population do you think the receipient of the rockets should just take it because because striking at the rocket launch site may kill civilians?

The people of Gaza have chosen Hamas as their leaders just as the Germans chose the Nazis as their leaders and just as the United States has chosen either Democrats or Republicans as their leaders and just as the Israelis have chosen the Likud Party as their leaders and all of us must be prepared to pay the price for our decisions.

[Filmguy870]

Earth to Palestinian Authority....stop using civilians as a shield.

[Springtoola]

11 civilians?!

7 of them were CHILDREN.

[cbaustintx]

Remember this is all according to the Palestinians. And they have been known to fabricate the truth to make it look better for them. One of the videos they sent out showed a man who was apparently injured or dead, and then a few minutes later they showed a crowd of people gathering and there he was (he was wearing back pants and shirt with a beige jacket). This was shown on CNN and other US news stations.

[Necroscope84]

Oh **** Raceriot. You're robotrolling pretty much tells everyone everything they need to know about you. And if it doesn't then there's your screen name. You're an ignorant retch and sometimes I think it's a shame that the right to speak ones mind includes morons like you.

With that said I honestly don't care who's side you're on but you cannot shoot missles at ANY country and not expect retaliation. You don't have to like Israel but they weren't the one's who started shooting rockets at civilians. They're not the one's who put their missles near schools and baseball fields. If Canada starting lobbing missles at the US would you be screaming about us hitting back with stealth bombers? No you wouldn't and its ignorant.

I don't care what Israel has or hasn't done in the past. They deserve to be able to live in peace without insane terroriss shooting rockets at them every day. And don't even start about them stealing land. Every nation on this earth got to be where it is today by stealing land. We stole from England and the Indians to create this great country. Just don't be a hypocrite. It takes two sides to create a war just like it takes two sides to stop a war. Enough said!

[MickKegeon]

Maybe if Hamas didn't use school yards for rocket launchers.... just sayin.

[flexsf]

No U.S. dollars to finance a hateful, racist, machismo, Israeli war! If Israel can't defend itself without the financial backing of U.S. dollars, it should cease to exist. I hate Israel for using my tax dollars to finance its hate and wars.