This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/11/israeli-air-strikes-gaza-continue-us-barack-obama-offers-broker-ceasefire

The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Israeli air strikes on Gaza continue as US offers to broker ceasefire Pressure builds on Israel to end military offensive as Gaza death toll rises
(about 1 hour later)
Israel is keeping up air strikes on Gaza but has failed to stop Palestinian militants firing rockets across the border, as the US offered to help negotiate a truce. The death toll in Gaza rose on Friday as international pressure began to build on Israel to end its four-day conflict with Hamas and Palestinian militant groups in the enclave.
Gaza medical officials said four people were killed in pre-dawn attacks on Friday. The Israeli military said fresh naval and air strikes were launched early on Friday, but a spokeswoman gave no further details. The White House said Barack Obama had phoned the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, to offer to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Palestinian sources put the number of dead from the Israeli military assault in Gaza at 98, dozens of them women and children.
With the violence escalating, Barack Obama said in a phone call on Thursday to the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, that Washington was willing to broker a ceasefire. "The United States remains prepared to facilitate a cessation of hostilities, including a return to the November 2012 ceasefire agreement," the White House said.
Obama said he was concerned the fighting could escalate and called for all sides to do everything they can to protect the lives of civilians, the White House said. The UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said that ceasefire was "more urgent than ever" after an emergency security council meeting on Thursday. Vladimir Putin has also urged Netanyahu to consider a ceasefire.
At least 80 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in the offensive, which Israel says it launched to end rocket attacks, some of which have reached Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities. Riyad Mansour, Palestine's ambassador to the UN, said: "We call on the security council to act immediately to protect civilian lives, which are being lost a destroyed with each passing minute."
An air strike on a house in Gaza City early on Friday killed a man described by officials as a doctor and pharmacist. Medics and residents said an Israeli aircraft bombed a three-storey house in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, killing three people. But in a televised statement on Thursday, Netanyahu seemed to indicate that Israeli's military action in Gaza – named Operation Protective Shield – was far from over.
Palestinians said Israeli tanks fired shells east of Rafah, naval forces sent shells into a security compound in Gaza City and aircraft bombed positions near the borders with Egypt and Israel. "So far the battle is progressing as planned, but we can expect further stages in future. Up to now, we have hit Hamas and the terror organisations hard and as the battle continues we will increase strikes at them," he said.
The rocket salvoes into Israel have caused no fatalities or serious injuries, due in part to interception by the US-funded Iron Dome aerial defence system. The anti-missile system has intercepted at least 70 projectiles destined for population centres in Israel. Israel has called up about 20,000 reserve troops, and while there is still no indication of whether it will launch a ground offensive, shelling and air strikes continued on Friday.
But the wail of air raid sirens has paralysed business in southern communities and sent hundreds of thousands of people scrambling for shelter in Tel Aviv, the country's commercial capital, where two rockets were shot down on Thursday. Offices and shops have remained open and roads are clogged with traffic. An air strike on a house in Gaza City early on Friday killed a man described by officials as a doctor and pharmacist. Medics and residents said an Israeli aircraft bombed a three-storey house in Rafah, killing three people.
On Friday, one rocket hit a petrol station in Israel's port city of Ashdod, causing a huge blaze and at least three people were seriously wounded, an ambulance spokesman said. Palestinians said Israeli tanks fired shells east of Rafah, while naval forces shelled a security compound in Gaza City and aircraft bombed positions near the borders with Egypt and Israel.
Lebanese security sources said two rockets were fired into northern Israel on Friday but they did not know who had fired them. Israel responded with artillery fire at the source of the rockets. The Israeli military confirmed on Friday that 548 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge, including one from Lebanon on Friday morning which landed near Gallilee.
Appeals for an immediate truce also came from the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, at an emergency meeting on Thursday of the security council, saying a ceasefire was "more urgent than ever". Also on Friday, one rocket hit a petrol station in Israeli port city of Ashdod, causing a huge blaze and seriously injuring at least three people, an ambulance spokesman said.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, issued a similar plea in a phone call to Netanyahu, urging an immediate end to the bloodshed and expressing concern about civilian casualties. But despite a barrage of rockets targeting Israeli cities including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv – causing thousands to rush to bomb shelters for the first time in years – there have still been no Israeli deaths since the beginning of this latest conflict.
Netanyahu said in a televised statement on Thursday: "So far the battle is progressing as planned, but we can expect further stages in future. Up to now, we have hit Hamas and the terror organisations hard and as the battle continues we will increase strikes at them." On Friday morning, air raid sirens rang out again in Tel Aviv and three loud explosions were heard as Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system shot down rockets over the city for a third day running.
In Jerusalem, Israeli police have deployed extra units in the Old City to deal with potential unrest after Friday prayers, according to a police spokesman. Access to al-Aqsa Mosque will again be restricted to women and men over 50.
Last week there were riots in Shuafat, East Jerusalem, following the murder of 17-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir, who was abducted from outside his home and then killed. A Shuafat resident told the Guardian on Thursday that as many as 60 members of Israel Defence Forces had been stationed in the neighbourhood for more than a week.