The 13th day of the Israeli operation in Gaza was the bloodiest with at least 100 Palestinians and 13 Israeli soldiers dead, while hostilities are escalated and the agreement for humanitarian ceasefire agreed between Hamas and Israel lasted less than an hour.
The international community watches the developments with little sign of real pressure on Israel to lessen or halt the killing of civilians while U.S. President Barack Obama asks Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu to immediately end the hostilities and respect the 2012 ceasefire agreement signed between the two sides, while expressing concerns about the increasing number of victims.
However, Israel does not seem to end the hostilities and escalates the ground operation in Gaza Strip raising the death toll to over 469 – victims are mostly women and children.
At the same time, while Israel accuses Hamas that uses women and children as human shields, UN observers argue that Israeli forces torture minors Palestinians, and then use them as human shields.
Hospitals in Gaza were overwhelmed by the injured and terrified seeking sanctuary from a relentless bombardment from air and tanks as gun battles raged on the ground between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants.
The medical staff struggles to provide first aid to those who arrive with wounds and fractures and speak of scenes of terror and chaos.
Netanyahu warned Israel’s operation would continue commitig that his country will do everything to restore peace in the area and stop the attacks by Hamas. He said that after three ceasefire offers, it now had international backing for its ground offensive: “We will continue this operation for as long as it takes.”
While in Gaza Strip deaths and injuries are increasing, the prime minister of Israel said that his country will do everything to restore peace in the area and to stop the attacks by Hamas.
He insisted also that the Israeli forces do not target civilians, but the nuclei of Islamists and expressed his sorrow for the innocent victims.
However, when asked by the U.S. network CNN how long it will take for Israel to complete the the military operation, which as he said aims to destroy the weapons of Hamas in Gaza, Netanyahu said “quickly enough” but he did not clarify the time frame and added that nobody wanted an extensive military operation.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, is expected to arrive at Middle East, who argued that Israel had every right to defend its citizens and noted that the country had endured many rocket attacks by Hamas for a long time.
On the other hand, the Arab League has accused Israel of “war crimes”, and the chief, Nabil Al-Arabi, accussed Netanyahu government of the furious attack with missiles and land operation.
