Commandos sent in to destroy rocket site, says army, while Palestinians count more than 150 dead and UN seeks ceasefire

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Israel has called on residents of the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate their homes, suggesting a coming attack after its naval commandos earlier launched a brief raid in which soldiers exchanged direct fire with Hamas gunmen.

The death toll passed 160 on Sunday on the Palestinian side, with no Israeli fatalities reported. The United Nations called on Israel and Hamas to end hostilities. Instead the violence escalated with more exchanges of rocket fire from Gaza and missiles from Israel.

The Israeli air force dropped leaflets on Sunday morning calling for the evacuation. Israel's military spokesman said troops would begin a "short and temporary" campaign against northern Gaza sometime after 12pm local time (0900 GMT) on Sunday.



The military said four Israeli navy commandos were lightly wounded in a shootout with Gaza-based Hamas fighters as they carried out a raid to destroy a rocket launching site on Sunday morning. It marks the first time the sides have directly clashed since Israel began a devastating bombardment in response to rocket fire. Hamas said its fighters had fired at the Israeli force offshore, preventing them from landing.

Both sides have dismissed calls for a truce and Israel has continued to build up troops along the Gaza border ahead of a possible ground invasion.

The UN security council unanimously urged Israel and Hamas to respect "international humanitarian laws" and stop the loss of life. The 15-member council urged a return to calm "and restitution of the November 2012 ceasefire", referring to Gaza's last deadly full-scale conflict.

Israel's aerial campaign – the largest and deadliest since 2012 – saw strikes start early on Saturday, including one that hit a centre for the handicapped and another that killed two nephews of Gaza's former Hamas premier, Ismail Haniya.

Rockets fired from Gaza targeted Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, with several intercepted over Israel's commercial capital and Jerusalem-bound projectiles hitting two southern West Bank cities.

Hundreds of rockets have so far caused no Israeli deaths and many have been intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system.

An attack on the northern Gaza Strip hit a centre for the handicapped, killing two disabled women and wounding four, the centre's director said. "They didn't understand what was happening and they were so frightened," Jamila Alaywa said of those inside the care home.

"They fired the rocket and it hit us without any warning."

Later on Saturday night an Israeli warplane flattened the home of Gaza police chief Taysir al-Batsh and damaged a nearby mosque as evening prayers ended, killing at least 18 people and wounding 50, officials said.

Hamas unleashed a barrage of rocket fire after issuing a rare warning that it planned to fire at the Israeli city of Tel Aviv. Three rockets apparently targeting Jerusalem fell short, hitting Hebron and Bethlehem, the army and Palestinian security sources said, with no reports of casualties.

Of four fired at Tel Aviv, three were intercepted above the city and another hit open ground south of it, the army said. Well over 500 projectiles have struck Israel during the conflict, and on Saturday evening two rockets fired from Lebanon hit uninhabited areas in northern Israel, the army said.

Israel responded with artillery fire.

Amid international efforts to mediate a truce the Egyptian government of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi's was in touch with both sides, his spokesman said.

Sisi met Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair in Cairo on Saturday to discuss the crisis and later warned any escalation would cause further loss of "innocent lives".

Washington has said it is willing to "leverage" its relationships in the region to bring about a ceasefire.

The chief diplomats of Britain, France, Germany and the United States are due to discuss how to achieve a truce when they meet in Vienna on Sunday.

The Italian foreign minister, Federica Mogherini, planned to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories from 14-17 July and Egypt on 18 July, her ministry said.

There has been little sign that either side is interested in an immediate end to the hostilities, which appeared to be ramping up over Saturday night. The Israeli army said it was sending messages to residents of northern Gaza "urging them to leave their homes for their own safety".

"It's unsafe to be near Hamas," it said.

On Friday Cairo said its efforts to mediate a return to a 2012 ceasefire agreement "have met with stubbornness".

The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, said on Friday that "no international pressure will prevent us from striking, with all force, against the terrorist organisation which calls for our destruction".

Hamas's Haniya sounded a similar tone, saying: "[Israel] is the one that started this aggression and it must stop, because we are [simply] defending ourselves."

The latest conflict unfolded after last month's kidnap and murder of three young Israelis in the occupied West Bank and the brutal revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager by Jewish extremists.

Israel cracked down on Hamas, though the Islamist group declined to confirm or deny involvement in the abductions, and Gaza militants hit back with intensified rocket fire.

Israel says preparations are under way for a possible ground incursion, with tanks and artillery massed along the border and 33,000 reservists mobilised out of 40,000 approved by the cabinet. The foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said he expected a political decision on a possible ground operation to be taken by Sunday.

Agence France-Presse, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report