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| Palestinian Death Toll Nears 100 as Hamas Promises More Attacks on Israel | Palestinian Death Toll Nears 100 as Hamas Promises More Attacks on Israel |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| JERUSALEM — At least eight Palestinians were killed overnight in airstrikes as Israel pressed on with its air offensive in Gaza, while southern and central Israel came under heavy rocket fire from militants on Friday morning. | JERUSALEM — At least eight Palestinians were killed overnight in airstrikes as Israel pressed on with its air offensive in Gaza, while southern and central Israel came under heavy rocket fire from militants on Friday morning. |
| As Palestinian health officials said the death toll in Gaza was approaching 100, the two sides appeared to be set on a course of continuing escalation, with no outside mediator yet having stepped in to try to broker a renewal of the cease-fire that came into effect after the last round of fierce, cross-border fighting, in November 2012. | As Palestinian health officials said the death toll in Gaza was approaching 100, the two sides appeared to be set on a course of continuing escalation, with no outside mediator yet having stepped in to try to broker a renewal of the cease-fire that came into effect after the last round of fierce, cross-border fighting, in November 2012. |
| One rocket launched from Lebanon struck open ground in northern Israel, putting Israeli forces in the north on alert and raising the specter of confrontation on a second front. An Israeli military official said it was too early to determine whether the act was “symbolic or something more substantial.” | One rocket launched from Lebanon struck open ground in northern Israel, putting Israeli forces in the north on alert and raising the specter of confrontation on a second front. An Israeli military official said it was too early to determine whether the act was “symbolic or something more substantial.” |
| Israel responded with artillery fire aimed at the launch site in Lebanon, according to Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli military. He said it was not immediately clear whether Hezbollah, the Shiite organization against which Israel fought a 34-day war in 2006, was responsible for the rocket fire from Lebanon. | Israel responded with artillery fire aimed at the launch site in Lebanon, according to Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli military. He said it was not immediately clear whether Hezbollah, the Shiite organization against which Israel fought a 34-day war in 2006, was responsible for the rocket fire from Lebanon. |
| An attack on gas station in the Mediterranean port city of Ashdod wounded several people, one of them seriously. Three more rockets fired from Gaza were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system above the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, the military said. | An attack on gas station in the Mediterranean port city of Ashdod wounded several people, one of them seriously. Three more rockets fired from Gaza were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system above the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, the military said. |
| Hamas, the Islamic group that dominates Gaza, and Islamic Jihad have both claimed responsibility for the rocket barrages that have reached much deeper into Israel than in the past and hit new targets spread across a wide area of the country. | Hamas, the Islamic group that dominates Gaza, and Islamic Jihad have both claimed responsibility for the rocket barrages that have reached much deeper into Israel than in the past and hit new targets spread across a wide area of the country. |
| The military wing of Hamas said it had warned foreign airlines to suspend flights to the “Zionist entity,” meaning Israel, citing the risks involved because of the fighting. In a statement on its website, the group claimed to have hit Ben-Gurion International Airport, just outside Tel Aviv, on Friday morning, although the Israeli police denied that it had. Sirens did sound at the airport as part of a general alert as rockets headed for the Tel Aviv area, but none of those struck the airport, according to Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman. | The military wing of Hamas said it had warned foreign airlines to suspend flights to the “Zionist entity,” meaning Israel, citing the risks involved because of the fighting. In a statement on its website, the group claimed to have hit Ben-Gurion International Airport, just outside Tel Aviv, on Friday morning, although the Israeli police denied that it had. Sirens did sound at the airport as part of a general alert as rockets headed for the Tel Aviv area, but none of those struck the airport, according to Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman. |
| “So far Hamas has utilized only a little of what it has prepared for the Zionist enemy,” the military wing of Hamas said in an earlier statement on its website, adding that it would continue “to surprise” every day. “We have prepared ourselves for a very long battle, not for a week or 10 days, as some have said, but for many long weeks.” | “So far Hamas has utilized only a little of what it has prepared for the Zionist enemy,” the military wing of Hamas said in an earlier statement on its website, adding that it would continue “to surprise” every day. “We have prepared ourselves for a very long battle, not for a week or 10 days, as some have said, but for many long weeks.” |
| At least 92 people have been killed in Gaza during the Israeli offensive. Of the eight Palestinians who were killed overnight in the airstrikes, five were from a family whose home was struck in the southern city of Rafah. Officials in Gaza said the other fatalities included a 10-year-old girl, who was killed in a strike on another house in Rafah; a Palestinian man killed in Israeli artillery fire there; and a pharmacist in Gaza City who was killed in an airstrike that targeted an apartment. | |
| Israel says the homes that have been targeted serve as command and control centers for militant operatives who coordinate and guide the rocket fire against Israeli population centers. About 20 homes were struck on Thursday and early Friday. Israel says airstrikes on houses are preceded by warnings to the occupants, by telephone and other means, to vacate the properties. Despite the warnings, dozens of civilian casualties have been attributed to the attacks on houses. | Israel says the homes that have been targeted serve as command and control centers for militant operatives who coordinate and guide the rocket fire against Israeli population centers. About 20 homes were struck on Thursday and early Friday. Israel says airstrikes on houses are preceded by warnings to the occupants, by telephone and other means, to vacate the properties. Despite the warnings, dozens of civilian casualties have been attributed to the attacks on houses. |
| Ahmed al-Shaer, a witness from Rafah, said that two rockets struck the house where five members of the Ghanem family were killed and that there was no advance warning. | Ahmed al-Shaer, a witness from Rafah, said that two rockets struck the house where five members of the Ghanem family were killed and that there was no advance warning. |
| According to data gathered by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 58 civilians had been killed in Gaza by Thursday afternoon, including 11 women and 21 children. | According to data gathered by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 58 civilians had been killed in Gaza by Thursday afternoon, including 11 women and 21 children. |
| Colonel Lerner said the Israeli military was “operating to minimize the civilian impact. But when Hamas embeds itself in the civilian population and uses it as a human shield,” he said, “that makes it very difficult for us.” | Colonel Lerner said the Israeli military was “operating to minimize the civilian impact. But when Hamas embeds itself in the civilian population and uses it as a human shield,” he said, “that makes it very difficult for us.” |