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Both Sides Report Deadliest Day in Gaza War Both Sides Report Deadliest Day in Gaza War
(about 2 hours later)
GAZA CITY — After weeks of escalating conflict in Gaza, both sides reported death tolls that made clear Sunday was the deadliest day so far in the war. The Palestinian Health Ministry reported that 87 Palestinians had died, and the Israeli military said 13 soldiers were dead. GAZA CITY — The mayhem began in the early hours of Sunday morning in Shejaiya, an eastern neighborhood of Gaza City, where Israeli forces battled with Hamas militants. Terrified civilians fled, sometimes past the bodies of those struck down in earlier artillery barrages. By dusk it was clear that Sunday was the deadliest single day for the Palestinians in the latest conflict and the deadliest for the Israeli military in years.
The fighting signaled that what had begun as a limited ground invasion by Israel on Thursday night had moved into a more extensive and costlier phase for both sides. At least 60 Palestinians and 13 Israeli soldiers and officers were killed in Shejaiya alone, and the shattered neighborhood was quickly becoming a new symbol of the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict, underlining the rising cost of this latest Gaza war.
Most of the Palestinians were killed in an eastern neighborhood of Gaza City called Shejaiya, just outside the downtown of the densely populated city. For the Palestinians it was the deadliest episode since Israel began its offensive on July 8 with airstrikes it says were aimed at curbing rocket fire against its cities, then followed with the ground offensive it said would destroy tunnels into Israel. Since July 9, 417 people have been killed in Gaza, among them more than 100 children, and more than 3,000 have been injured. The death tolls and the withering assault on Shejaiya appeared to shake the international community, with world leaders continuing to carefully call for both sides to step back but with criticism of Israel rising. Within hours, President Obama had called the Israeli prime minister for the second time in three days, the United Nations Security Council had called an emergency session at the urging of the Palestinians, and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had issued a statement calling the attack on Shejaiya “an atrocious action.”
Sunday’s death toll for the Israeli soldiers surpassed the number of soldiers killed in the past two Gaza offensives. In the 2008-9 war, 10 died, four of them from “friendly fire.” Late in the day, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced it had captured an Israeli soldier, but that was not immediately confirmed by Israel. By early evening, the Obama administration announced that Secretary of State John Kerry would head to Cairo to meet with Egyptian officials in an attempt to negotiate a cease-fire to end the bloodshed.
President Obama told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday that he had “serious concern” about the growing number of casualties on both sides in Gaza. In his second phone call with the Israeli leader in three days, Mr. Obama also told Mr. Netanyahu that Secretary of State John Kerry will travel soon to Cairo to press for an immediate cease-fire, a White House statement said. Throughout Gaza, at least 87 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire on Sunday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, bringing the death toll there since the Israeli air offensive began on July 8 to at least 425, with more than 3,000 injured. The toll includes more than 100 children.
The statement also emphasized the need to protect civilians in both Gaza and Israel. Israel has lost 18 soldiers so far, as well as two citizens killed by rocket and mortar fire.
In a sign of increasing international alarm, the United Nations Security Council scheduled an emergency session for Sunday night after a request from the Palestinians. In Shejaiya, the panic Sunday was palpable. Some of the men, women and children who streamed out of the area were barefoot. Israeli shells crashed all around, rockets fired by Palestinian militants soared overhead in the direction of Israel and small-arms fire whizzed past. Asked where they were going, one woman said, “God knows.”
“This situation is intolerable,” President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority said in a televised speech from Doha, Qatar. He called the Israeli attacks “crimes against humanity.” The casualties quickly overwhelmed local hospitals. Doctors treated some victims on the floor.
The Palestinians circulated a draft resolution that “condemns all violence and hostilities directed against civilians and all acts of terrorism.” But there was no indication the Council would act on the draft resolution Sunday or that it would take any action. As the day wore on and the casualties mounted, it became apparent that what had begun on Thursday night as a limited ground invasion to follow 10 days of intense airstrikes had developed into a more extensive and dangerous phase for both sides.
Beginning at dawn on Sunday in Shejaiya, men, women and children streamed out of the neighborhood, some barefoot, past bodies of people killed by shelling. Israeli shells crashed all around, rockets fired by militants soared overhead, and occasional small-arms fire whizzed past. Black smoke rose above the city. Asked where they were going, one woman said, “God knows.” Late Sunday, Hamas’s military wing announced it had captured an Israeli soldier, though it was not immediately clear if any soldier was missing or if the announcement was an exercise in psychological warfare. The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported that more than 300 people were injured in that neighborhood alone on Sunday. Despite the growing international alarm, Israel’s political and military leaders said that while acknowledging the pain for both sides, they were determined to continue with their mission. They have said the offensive is meant to root out Hamas’s vast network of underground tunnels, many of them leading into Israel, and to quell the rocket fire from Gaza, which continued on Sunday.
The Palestinian government, which is led by Mr. Abbas and the Western-supported Palestinian Authority and by Hamas, the Islamist militant group that controls Gaza, in a statement described the killing of Palestinians in Shejaiya as “a heinous massacre” and a war crime. In a televised prime-time address to the nation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “We are not deterred,” adding, “We will continue to operate as long as necessary.”
As the Israeli offensive spread through Gaza, generating gruesome photos of dead and fleeing Palestinians, even Mr. Kerry appeared to express frustration. Mr. Netanyahu said he had “laid the diplomatic foundation that has given us international credit to operate,” listing major Western countries that he said understood Israel’s right to defend itself.
On several Sunday talk shows, the secretary of state vociferously defended Israel’s right to take action, he also made critical comments privately that were captured by Fox News on a live microphone. Chris Wallace, the Fox interviewer, confronted Mr. Kerry with a tape of those remarks during his appearance on that channel. In it, Mr. Kerry is heard to say: “It’s a hell of a pinpoint operation,” adding, “We’ve got to get over there.” In another sign that the conflict could continue to take a high toll, a senior Israeli military official noted that the Hamas fighters that Israel faced in Shejaiya had “learned lessons” from past conflicts and were tough adversaries.
Mr. Kerry was apparently speaking sarcastically of an operation aimed at militants that had killed so many Palestinian civilians, including many children. “I have to admit that we were facing good fighters on the other side,” he said.
Asked if he was “upset that the Israelis are going too far,” Mr. Kerry replied, “It’s very, very difficult in these situations.” So far, Mr. Netanyahu appears to have the support of many Israelis, who were particularly shaken in recent days when militants used the so-called “terror tunnels” that the government had warned about to infiltrate their country.
He continued, “I reacted, obviously, in a way that anybody does with respect to young children and civilians.” In one of several television appearances on Sunday, Mr. Kerry noted that Hamas fighters who have crossed the border recently into Israel were carrying tranquilizer drugs and handcuffs.
It was not immediately clear whether the growing death toll and increasing pressure on both sides would help or hinder international efforts to forge a cease-fire. Still it is unclear how much support Israel will continue to receive internationally if the bombardment continues. On Friday, Mr. Obama reaffirmed his “strong support for Israel’s right to defend itself,” but suggested that it was based on his understanding that “the current military ground operations are designed to deal with the tunnels.”
Mr. Abbas was expected to meet on Sunday in Doha, Qatar, with the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, and Qatari officials to discuss an Egyptian proposal for ending the fighting, according to Palestinian officials. Khaled Meshal, the political leader of Hamas, is also based in Qatar. Mr. Kerry, who used his appearances on the talk shows to vociferously defend Israel’s right to take action, expressed his own consternation in private critical comments that were captured by Fox News on a live microphone. Mr. Kerry is heard to say to an aide: “It’s a hell of a pinpoint operation,” adding, “We got to get over there.”
Before the meeting, Mr. Ban condemned the bombardment of Shejaiya, calling it an “atrocious action.” He also demanded an immediate halt to the Israeli offensive as well as rocket fire from Gaza. “All sides need to be assured that international humanitarian law counts — and that there will be accountability and justice for crimes committed by any party,” he said. His later answers to on-air questions suggested that he had been speaking sarcastically of an operation that is aimed at militants but had killed so many Palestinian civilians, including many children.
The Israeli military said it had agreed to a request from the International Committee of the Red Cross for a two-hour humanitarian cease-fire on Sunday — from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. — to allow an emergency crew in to evacuate the dead and wounded from Shejaiya and to allow other residents to leave, but some fighting appeared to have resumed even before the first hour was up. Mr. Ban called on Israel to halt its operation in Gaza immediately, saying, “Israel must exercise maximum restraint and do far more to protect civilians.” He also called for an end to the rocket fire from Gaza.
Soon after 3.30 p.m., the Israeli military said it would hold its fire in Shejaiya for an additional hour, though it accused Hamas of continuing to shoot. A short while later, it said that acceding to a Red Cross request, it was extending the cease-fire until 5:30. Mr. Ban spoke in Doha, Qatar, hours before a scheduled meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority. Mr. Abbas called the Israeli action in Shejaiya “a crime against humanity,” according to Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency.
At 5 p.m., barrages of rockets were fired from Gaza toward the southern Israeli cities of Beersheba, Ashkelon and Netivot. Some were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome antimissile defense system, and others landed harmlessly in open ground. Like other Israeli officials, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, noted that ground forces moved into Shejaiya after area residents had been warned to leave for days. But some residents have said they are unsure where they could go to be safe in the small, densely populated enclave.
Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, said ground forces had moved on Shejaiya overnight after area residents had been warned to leave for the past three days. Colonel Lerner said Hamas had “fortified” the whole neighborhood not far from the border with Israel, building a labyrinth of tunnels beneath the houses, which he called “Lower Gaza.” The fighting started about 1 a.m. and lasted about seven hours. Colonel Lerner said the Hamas fighters were armed with antitank missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons.
“The mission,” he said, “is targeting Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure, including significant rocket-launching capabilities and an extensive tunnel network designed to aid infiltration into Israel for attacks on soldiers and civilians. Other tunnels, he said, lead to concealed rocket launchers or weapons stores. As the battle waned, the horror unfolded. Dark smoke rose at the edge of Shejaiya, and shelling cracked and thumped nearby with just a few seconds’ pause between rounds. Clusters of people periodically emerged from the narrower streets and rushed up the hill toward downtown.
“They have made fortified positions of all the town,” Colonel Lerner added, describing a labyrinth of tunnels beneath houses, which he called “Lower Gaza.” A chain of five children holding hands trotted uphill, dragged by an adult — the smallest boy, around 3, with an expression of confusion and terror. Barefoot, he clutched his flip-flops in his hand. Taxis ventured only to the bottom of the street, where they picked up pedestrians, so many on occasion that some had to sit in an open hatchback or trunk. In the chaos, many parents were separated from their children.
The military, he said, had found 10 access shafts leading to tunnels beneath Shejaiya, and 8 percent of the nearly 1,800 rockets fired into Israel since July 8 had been launched from Shejaiya.
Detecting and destroying the tunnel system has been a focus of the ground operation so far. Earlier Sunday the military said it had discovered 14 tunnels and dozens of access points. Armed militants from Gaza emerged from at least two tunnels dug under the border with Israel on Saturday, clashing with Israeli soldiers and killing two. On Sunday morning, the Israeli military said it had demolished two tunnels, including one it said led to Netiv Haasara, an Israeli border community just north of Gaza.
At the edge of Shejaiya, dark smoke rose above buildings on Sunday and shelling cracked and thumped nearby with hardly a second’s pause between rounds. Shops were closed, and clusters of people periodically emerged from the narrower streets of the neighborhood and rushed up the hill toward downtown.
A chain of five children holding hands trotted uphill, dragged by an adult — the smallest boy, around 3, with an expression of confusion and terror. Barefoot, he clutched his flip-flops in his hand. A van drove by with five boys on its roof, the inside packed with people and mattresses. Taxis ventured only to the bottom of the street, where they picked up pedestrians, so many on occasion that some had to sit in an open hatchback or trunk.
At Shifa Hospital, a girl who looked about 9 was brought into the emergency room and laid on a gurney, blood soaking the shoulder of her shirt. Motionless and barely alive, she stared at the ceiling, her mouth open. There was no relative with her to give her name. The medical staff stood quietly around her. Every now and then, they checked her vital signs, until it was time. They covered her with a white sheet, and she was gone. A few moments later, a new patient lay on the gurney.At Shifa Hospital, a girl who looked about 9 was brought into the emergency room and laid on a gurney, blood soaking the shoulder of her shirt. Motionless and barely alive, she stared at the ceiling, her mouth open. There was no relative with her to give her name. The medical staff stood quietly around her. Every now and then, they checked her vital signs, until it was time. They covered her with a white sheet, and she was gone. A few moments later, a new patient lay on the gurney.
At one point in the dying girl’s final moments, a half-dozen journalists with television cameras crowded around the gurney. In the next bed, a small girl smudged with blood cried, “Mama! Mama!” The hospital grounds were crowded with displaced families sitting on the grass. Taghreed Harazin, 34, sat under a gazebo with her 6-month-old son, Diaa, in the car seat in which she had carried him on foot until finding a taxi. She said she had believed the evacuation order was only for the eastern part of the neighborhood, and mistakenly thought she would be safe at home. Moving was frightening, she said, because of airstrikes.
The hospital grounds were crowded with displaced families sitting on the grass. Some were sprinkled loosely in the sun, others packed side by side in the spots of shade. But during the night, heavy shelling started. They went to the basement for three hours, then ventured out at dawn.
Taghreed Harazin, 34, sat under a gazebo with her six-month-old son, Diaa, in the car seat in which she had carried him on foot until finding a taxi. She said she had believed the evacuation order was only for the eastern part of the neighborhood, and mistakenly thought she would be safe at home. Moving was frightening, she said, because of airstrikes. As the family dashed through the streets to avoid crashing shells, Ms. Harazin, said, she saw the decapitated body of a boy who looked about 4.
But during the night, as the family prepared their predawn Ramadan meal — only bread, since there was no electricity to cook with — heavy shelling started. They went to the basement for three hours, then ventured out at dawn. “We are not Hamas, and we are not with the others,” Ms. Harazin said. “We just want to live in our homes.”
As the family dashed through the streets to avoid crashing shells, Ms. Harazin, said, she saw the decapitated body of a boy who looked about 4, and a wounded woman in a black abaya nearby, both lying on the sidewalk. An ambulance came and took them both away. Asked what she thought of Hamas’s handling of the current war, she said, “Sometimes it’s difficult to express your opinion.” She said her husband had been beaten for complaining about Hamas.
“We are not Hamas, and we are not with the others,” Ms. Harazin said. “We just want to live in our homes. The people are not Hamas. Israel has a problem with Hamas. What’s the fault of the other people? We have nothing to do with it.” Wadha Abu Amr, 62, said her family were refugees from what is now Beersheba, who fled in 1948 during the war over Israel’s founding.
Asked what she thought of Hamas’s handling of the current war, she said, “Sometimes it’s difficult to express your opinion.”
She primarily faulted Israel, saying, “They are shelling houses, people indiscriminately.” But she said that when it comes to Hamas’s actions, “If you say any word, it’s held against you.” She said her husband had been beaten for complaining about Hamas.
A lab technician, Ms. Harazin had brought a medical kit with her, along with her son’s diaper bag, in case anyone needed help. She had bandaged the foot of an elderly woman sitting next to her, who cut it on glass as she fled barefoot.
The woman, Wadha Abu Amr, said her family were refugees from what is now Beersheba. They fled from there in 1948 during the war over Israel’s founding.
“I’m afraid that this is another 1948,” she said, “God forbid. We were driven out in 1948 and we are being driven out again now.”“I’m afraid that this is another 1948,” she said, “God forbid. We were driven out in 1948 and we are being driven out again now.”
In the worst-hit area, a cinderblock building had been flattened; a neighboring one was only partially standing and others across the street were burned. On side streets, broken glass and rubble littered the ground, and the walls were pocked with shrapnel marks. Workers tried to pull bodies from rubble.
Several men appeared to be fighters, emerging from a hole broken in a concrete wall and shooing photographers away.
The remains of an exploded ambulance littered one street, the engine blown away from the ripped body of the vehicle. During the fighting, a Palestinian journalist who had ridden with an ambulance crew into the neighborhood was killed, along with a paramedic, whose body lay on a stretcher at Shifa Hospital, still in green scrubs.
In Israel, the mood was grim but determined. The military, suffering its heaviest loss in a single day since the 2006 war in Lebanon, said seven of the 13 soldiers were killed when militants detonated an explosive device against their armored personnel carrier, three died in clashes with militants and three died trapped in a burning building.
The senior military official, who briefed reporters in Tel Aviv and spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with army rules, said the forces faced hundreds of Hamas fighters.
“It was a real battle there,” he said. “They were hiding in the apartments, shooting at the Israeli soldiers from the apartments, from the houses, from the windows.”