Israeli Raids Kill 32 on Third Day of Gaza Campaign
Israeli strikes on Gaza killed at least 32 people Thursday as an air war entered its third day, with most of the bloodshed in the southern city of Khan Yunis, medics said.
The latest bloodshed raised to 83 the overall number of Gazans killed since Israel launched Operation Protective Edge early on Tuesday to halt cross-border rocket fire by militant groups.
Most of the deaths occurred in Khan Yunis, with a strike at about 1:00 am (2200 GMT on Wednesday night) hitting a cafe where football fans were watching the World Cup semi-final between Argentina and Holland.
Nine people were killed and at least 15 wounded, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.
An hour later, Israeli warplanes struck two houses elsewhere in the city, killing four women and four children.
Another strike on the city killed a 19-year-old man and his 75-year-old father.
A four-year-old child who was also injured in one of the strikes on Khan Yunis died of her injuries during the day.
In central Gaza, a man was killed in an air strike on Nusseirat refugee camp.
In Zeitun, east of Gaza City, a missile killed a man on a motorbike in the late afternoon.
In Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, another man was killed by a missile riding his motorbike hours later.
Another man was killed in a strike on the northern town of Jabaliya.
Hours earlier, a strike on a car elsewhere in Jabaliya killed three men, all of them members of Islamic Jihad's armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, a fellow militant told Agence France Presse.
The army also identified them as Islamic Jihad militants involved in firing rockets at Israel.
It named one as Allaa Abd al-Nabi and said he played "an active part in the current escalation" and was responsible for firing long-range rockets over the border.
Earlier, a strike on a car in the west of Gaza City killed a 35-year-old man and two others.
And in the north, a five-year-old boy was killed when an Israeli missile struck the town of Beit Lahiya.
Medics said a 22-year-old man died of injuries sustained in northern Gaza, without specifying when.
Another man who was badly wounded in a raid east of Gaza City a day earlier also died of his wounds, taking Wednesday's toll to 30 people.
On Tuesday, the first day of the operation, 21 people were killed.
The army said it had hit more than 300 targets overnight, raising the total number of strikes just over 48 hours to 750, in Israel's largest military operation in Gaza since November 2012.
On Tuesday, 117 rockets fired by Gaza militants struck Israel, and 29 were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system.
Another 90 rockets hit Israel on Wednesday, 24 of which were intercepted.
On Thursday, over 120 rockets struck Israel, while another 24 were intercepted, army figures show.
There have been no Israeli deaths so far, although medics said one woman died on Thursday, a day after falling while running for cover.
Hamas has launched waves of rockets across central Israel that have triggered sirens in cities as far from Gaza as Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa.
On Thursday afternoon, Gaza militants fired four rockets at Jerusalem, with two shot down over the city and another two hitting open spaces, the Israeli army said.
Witnesses and Palestinian security officials said one rocket struck near the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maaleh Adumim, while a second hit close to an Israeli military prison near Ramallah.
"Four rockets were fired at Jerusalem, of which two landed in open areas and two were intercepted," an army spokesman told AFP, without giving further details.
Police confirmed the two rockets not intercepted had hit open areas near Maaleh Adumim and in the Ramallah area.
"At this stage there are no injuries," a statement read.
Both the Islamic Jihad and Hamas issued statements taking responsibility for the rockets fired at Jerusalem.
It was the second time in two days that air raid sirens had sounded across the Holy City as Israel and Hamas militants were locked in a fresh round of bitter fighting in and around the Gaza Strip.
Three loud blasts could be heard around the city shortly after sirens wailed, sending people scrambling for shelter, AFP correspondents said.
Sirens also sounded across Maaleh Adumim, and an explosion was heard in Ramallah, witnesses and a correspondent said.
A witness told AFP one struck an open area near Mishor Adumim, an Israeli industrial area adjacent to Maaleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem.
The rocket hit near a cluster of shacks belonging to the Bedouin Jahalin tribe, causing however no damages or injuries, the witness said.
Further north, Palestinian security sources said a rocket had struck open ground near Ofer, an Israeli military prison that lies to the west of Ramallah.
Source: Agence France Presse
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