Diplomatic efforts to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza continued Tuesday
as the death toll among Palestinians grew to more than 1,000.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon opened his diplomatic trip to the
region with a stop in Egypt, where he renewed his call for an
"immediate and durable" ceasefire in Gaza.
Nineteen days into the offensive and the fighting shows no sign of letting up.
Israeli
aircraft attacked about 60 targets, overnight, including the Hamas
police headquarters in Gaza City. Plumes of smoke from bombs, shells
and explosions were again visible over Gaza.
Reporting from Gaza city for VOA is Palestinian journalist Mohammed Dawwas.
"In
the morning it was a bit quiet, but then the whole thing started to
change when they bombarded a cemetery and the Gaza central park, the
municipal park, which is the largest in Gaza City. Gaza was full of
white smoke," he said. "It covered Gaza from these strikes."
Dawwas lives in the center of Gaza City. He says he could not see Israeli troops, but could hear shooting and shelling.
"They
[the Israeli troops] are not really far from the center," said Dawwas.
"They're on the edges of southern Gaza [city], on the edges of northern
Gaza. It looks like they're besieging Gaza from every place. There are
battles on the ground, battles between them [the Israelis] and Hamas
groups, Islamic Jihad groups, these guys."
Israel's military says more work lies ahead to complete the mission of halting Hamas rocket fire into southern Israel.
Militants in Gaza fired several rockets into Israel Wednesday.
Several
rockets also hit northern Israel from neighboring Lebanon, landing near
Kiriyat Shmona. No casualties were reported and there was no immediate
claim of responsibility. It was the second such attack in a week and
Israel responded with artillery fire.
Humanitarian workers
continue to warn of a catastrophe. The head of the International
Committee for the Red Cross visited Gaza, Tuesday, and said he was
shocked by what he saw. He urged both sides to spare civilians and
let emergency personnel carry out their work.
