Israel-Gaza: Violence continues unabated, death toll at 196

The death toll from Israel’s military campaign in Gaza on Tuesday rose to 192, after six more Palestinians died, four of them in strikes before Israel accepted the ceasefire.

Emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said three people were killed in two separate air strikes on the southern city of Khan Yunis. And two other men in the city succumbed to injuries sustained in earlier raids, he said. 

Also in the south, a woman was killed in an earlier strike on Rafah, taking Tuesday’s toll to six dead, he said. All of the fatalities took place before Israel accepted a 0600 GMT ceasefire proposed by Egypt, despite its rejection by Hamas. 

Late Monday, the death toll rose above that of the previous major conflict between Israel and Hamas militants, an eight day confrontation in November 2012 which claimed the lives of 177 Palestinians and six Israelis.  More than 1,300 Palestinians, including women and children, have been wounded since the offensive started on 7 July, according to Palestinian health authorities. So far, no Israelis have been killed in the fighting.

US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Hamas to accept Egypt’s ceasefire proposal to halt fighting with Israel in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement by the State Department on Tuesday, Kerry welcomed Israel’s decision to accept the proposal. ‘The Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire and negotiations provides an opportunity to end the violence and restore calm.

We welcome the Israeli cabinet’s decision to accept it. We urge all other parties to accept the proposal,’ Kerry said. The Islamic factions senior leader Osama Hamdan described the Egyptian initiative as a ‘joke.’  ‘We did not receive this declared paper from the Egyptians... which means it’s an initiative for the media.

It’s not a political initiative,’ he told CNN. The initiative was meant to ‘push the Palestinians into a corner and aid the Israelis’, Hamdan asserted. Some members within Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party slammed the ceasefire offer as ‘capitulation’.

Deputy Security Minister Danny Danon voiced disapproval of the Egyptian brokered ceasefire proposal saying, ‘a ceasefire is a slap in the face for the Israeli people.’ Another Likud parliamentarian, Miri Regev, also opposed reports on the deal, saying, ‘I call on the prime minister not to agree to a ceasefire and to make a military decision that will weaken Hamas through action in the air, land and sea.’  ‘This window of opportunity won’t return and any ceasefire with Hamas will allow the organization to return to power,’ Roger said.

Bennett described the proposal as ‘good for Hamas and bad for Israel...A cease-fire at the present time shows the government’s weakness.’ 

Many analysts here believe that Netanyahu’s position has been weakened politically over these differences. Lieberman a few days ago decided to break his party’s joint association with the Likud in the parliament even though he didn’t pull out of the coalition government. Israel has massed thousands of troops on the border with Gaza amid warnings it is prepared to launch a ground invasion.

About 17,000 people from the Beit Lahiya area in the northern Gaza Strip streamed for protection into UN-run facilities after Israel warned residents of the area to leave their homes.

Despite the concentrated attack, Palestinian militants continued to fire rockets at a broad swath of Israel.