Israel kills senior Gaza militant, mulls next move
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli
aircraft struck 30 houses in the Gaza Strip early Friday, killing a
leader of the militant Islamic Jihad group and two of his sons, as
Israel's Security Cabinet was to decide whether to expand its operation
or consider ideas for a cease-fire.
The Israeli military said it hit 45 sites in Gaza, including what it said was a Hamas military command post, while Gaza militants continued to fire dozens of rockets at Israel, with one hitting an empty house.
On the 18th day of fighting, Israel's Security Cabinet was to convene later Friday to consider international cease-fire proposals, an Israeli defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deliberations were taking place behind closed doors.
One plan
calls for a five-day humanitarian truce during which Israel and Hamas
would negotiate new border arrangements for blockaded Gaza, said Hana
Amireh, a senior Palestine Liberation Organization official in the West
Bank, who is involved in cease-fire efforts.
Hamas has said it
will not halt fire without international guarantees that Egypt and
Israel will open Gaza's border crossings and end their seven-year-old
blockade. Israel and Egypt are reluctant to ease the blockade, fearing
this will enable Hamas to tighten its grip on Gaza.Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal has "put so many preconditions on a cease-fire so as to make it impossible."
Israeli media
reported that the military also wants more time to continue destroying
rocket sites and tunnels from Gaza into Israel, which Hamas has used to
launch attacks. The military says it has found 31 tunnels but only
destroyed about one-third of them so far. Israel has mobilized over
65,000 reserve forces during the fighting.
In Jerusalem, hundreds
of Palestinians protested in the traditionally Arab east of the city
after Muslim noon prayers, and a dozen protesters threw rocks and
fireworks at Israeli police, who fired stun grenades and water cannons.
Thousands of Israeli security forces had been deployed for possible
Palestinian protests.The night before, thousands of Palestinians protesting the Gaza fighting clashed with Israeli security forces in the West Bank and in east Jerusalem in one of the biggest protests in the territory in years. One Palestinian was killed and dozens were wounded, according to Palestinian medical officials.
In Gaza, the Palestinian death toll reached 828, after 115 were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest days of fighting, said Ashraf al-Kidra, a Palestinian health official. More than 5,200 Palestinians have been wounded since July 8, he said.
During the same period, 35 Israelis, among them 33 soldiers, and a Thai worker were killed. Included in the count is an Israeli reservist killed Friday, the army said.
Early
Friday, Israeli warplanes struck 30 houses throughout the Gaza Strip,
including the home of Salah Hassanein, a leader of the military wing of
Islamic Jihad, the second-largest militant group in Gaza after Hamas.
Hassanein
and two of his sons were killed in the airstrike, said Gaza police
spokesman Ayman Batniji and al-Kidra. The Israeli army confirmed the
strike.Over the past two weeks, Israeli aircraft have repeatedly hit homes of Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders. Most had gone into hiding, but the strikes killed a leader of an Islamic Jihad rocket squad, a Hamas commander and a son of senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Haya, according to the Israeli military.
Such strikes have also claimed the lives of a large number of civilians. A Gaza human rights group said earlier this week that close to 500 homes have been damaged or destroyed in direct hits from the air, and that more than 320 people have been killed in their homes as a result of military strikes.
Germany's two largest airlines said they are not yet resuming flights to Israel even though the European Aviation Safety Agency has lifted a recommendation that airlines refrain from flying to Tel Aviv.
Air
Berlin says flights to Tel Aviv remain suspended at least through
midday Friday, while Lufthansa says all Friday flights to the airport
have been canceled because of ongoing security concerns after a Gaza
rocket landed about a mile away from Israel's international airport.
Lufthansa's cancellations apply to subsidiaries Germanwings, Austrian Airlines, Swiss and Brussels Airlines as well.
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