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Boy (10) killed in latest Israeli airstrikes on Gaza

Israel says it is targeting "terror sites across the Gaza Strip" in response to Hamas rocket atta...
Newstalk
Newstalk

06.34 8 Aug 2014


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Boy (10) killed in latest Isra...

Boy (10) killed in latest Israeli airstrikes on Gaza

Newstalk
Newstalk

06.34 8 Aug 2014


Share this article


Israel says it is targeting "terror sites across the Gaza Strip" in response to Hamas rocket attacks after a three-day truce ended in more bloodshed. A 10-year-old Palestinian boy was killed and five other boys injured in an airstrike near a mosque in Gaza City, according to doctors in the area.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government said it will not negotiate about renewing a ceasefire while Hamas militants continue to launch rockets.

At least 18 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel since the truce ended at 6am Irish time, Israeli army officials say.

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A rocket that hit the Sdot Negev regional council injured a civilian and a soldier, the Israeli military tweeted:

Thousands of Palestinians are fleeing their homes in north and east Gaza as Mr Netanyahu ordered "forceful retaliation" to the rocket fire.

Reporter Katie Stallard, in Gaza City, heard two loud explosions and Israeli F16 fighters overhead. Israeli tanks also fired into northern Gaza and Israeli gunboats targeted the central area of the strip, according to reports.

In Jerusalem, Israel has opened rocket shelters near the Gaza border so residents can take cover. Israeli delegates have left talks in Cairo with Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) on stopping the bloodshed.

A senior Palestinian official earlier accused Israel of refusing a number of their demands, including a guarantee that Gaza's borders would be opened.

"If Israel continues its procrastination, we will not extend the ceasefire," he said.

Hamas spokesperson, Musheer Al Masri, says the attacks must stop.

The month-long violence, punctuated by brief periods of truce, has killed nearly 1,900 Palestinians, while Israel has lost 64 soldiers and three civilians.

United Nations figures indicate that 73% of the Palestinian victims, 1,354 people, were civilians. Of that number, at least 429 were children.

While the number of internally displaced people in Gaza continues to rise:

The latest conflict broke out on July 8th, when the Israeli military began bombarding targets in Gaza in an attempt to stop Hamas from launching rockets at Israel.

Israel said it sent ground troops in on July 17th to destroy underground tunnels.

Newstalk's Shona Murray has spent the past week in Gaza. She says the people there are 'distraught' by all the violence.

Here at home, two pro-Palestinian demonstrations will be held in Galway later.

The rallies in Eyre Square and in Ballinasloe are being organised by NUI Galway's Palestine Solidarity Society.

Originally posted 06:32


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