Israel Strikes Kill 42 In Gaza As UN Security Council Meets

Israel Strikes Kill 42 In Gaza As UN Security Council Meets

Israeli strikes killed 42 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, the worst daily toll yet in almost a week of deadly clashes, as the UN Security Council met amid global alarm at the escalating conflict.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pleaded for an immediate end to the “utterly appalling” violence and warned of an “uncontainable security and humanitarian crisis”.

But the council meeting, already delayed by Israel’s ally the United States, resulted in little action.

The heaviest exchange of fire in years, sparked by unrest in Jerusalem, has killed 197 in Gaza since Monday, along with 10 in Israel, according to authorities on either side.

Israel said Sunday morning its “continuing wave of strikes” had in the past 24 hours struck over 90 targets across the crowded coastal enclave, where an Israeli strike that destroyed a building housing journalists’ offices sparked international outrage.

The death toll kept rising in Gaza on Sunday as rescuers extracted bodies from vast piles of smoking rubble and the bereaved wailed in grief.

“We were sleeping and then all of a sudden there were rockets raining down on us,” said Lamia al-Koulak, 43, who lost siblings and their children in dawn bombardment.

“The children were screaming. For half an hour we were bombarded without prior warning. We came out to find the building next door flattened.”

But Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said the campaign would “take time”.

“Our campaign against the terrorist organisations is continuing with full force. We are acting now, for as long as necessary, to restore calm and quiet to you, Israel’s citizens,” he said in a televised address.

– ‘Hatred and revenge’ –
Israel’s army said Sunday that about 3,000 rockets had been fired from the coastal strip towards Israel — the highest rate ever recorded.

Around 450 fell within the Gaza Strip, while the Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted over 1,000, the army said.

Rockets have wounded over 280 people, hitting districts that had previously been well beyond the range of Hamas rockets.

Army chief Aviv Kochavi said Israel had reacted with unprecedented force.

“Hamas misjudged the strength of our response,” he said on Sunday.

At least 58 children have died in Gaza, local health authorities said, more than 1,200 people have been wounded and entire city blocks smashed to rubble.

Gaza health authorities said 40,000 people had been displaced from their homes since Monday.

Save the Children warned that life-saving services were “at breaking point” after Israeli strikes damaged power lines.

“Now basic supplies and power are running low, compounding and further fuelling this humanitarian catastrophe,” said the charity’s country director Jason Lee.

The Israel army says it takes all possible precautions to avoid harming civilians, and blames Hamas for deliberately placing military targets in densely populated areas.