- United Nations warns medical facilities are 'on the verge of collapse' as almost half of medics are unable to get to work
- It says a third of all hospitals in Gaza have been damaged and 270,000 people are crammed into 90 UN shelters
- Officials said missile struck at gates of one such shelter today in Rafah, killing 10 people inside and out and injuring 35
- It is at least the sixth UN facility to be hit and contained 3,000 Palestinians who were sheltering from strikes
- UN Secretary-General: Strike is 'moral outrage and criminal act' and 'yet another gross violation of humanitarian law'
- As 27th day of conflict began the death toll stood at more than 1,700 Palestinians and 67 Israelis including 64 soldiers
- Many tanks withdrew from Gaza Strip amid reports tunnel destruction was complete - but attacks continued
- British Foreign Secretary declares: 'The situation in Gaza is simply intolerable. We have to get the killing to stop'
Gaza
is on its knees, the United Nations has declared, with babies' bodies
crammed into ice cream freezers in overflowing morgues as fighting
leaves almost half of medics unable to get to work.
Palestinians
say corpses are littering the streets as casualties litter the
blood-stained emergency room floors of Gaza's hospitals, a third of
which have been damaged in the fighting.
Almost
half a million people - 460,000 or a quarter of all Gazans - have been
displaced with 270,000 crammed into 90 desperately crowded UN shelters,
some of which have had no running water for two weeks.
The
crisis escalated today after Israel attacked another UN school killing
10 people, many of whom were waiting in line for food handouts, in what
the UN Secretary-General called 'yet another gross violation of
humanitarian law'. More rockets were also fired towards Israel,
intercepted by its defences.
Rescue: A wounded boy cries under the
rubble of the house in Rafah which was destroyed today in a reported
airstrike, killing at least nine members of the same family. The UN says
access is effectively blocked to many of its facilities, one of which
was hit by a strike this morning, as almost half of Gaza's medics are
unable to get to work
Help: The boy was evacuated from under
the rubble on a fresh day of attacks which saw the sixth Israeli attack
on a UN facility since the start of the crisis on July 8
Some children's bodies from the
al-Ghol family, which lost nine members were crammed into a freezer
because there was no room for them in the morgue of Rafah
The family's bodies were lined up in
the back of a cooler truck at first because the hospital's morgue was
full in Rafah, a town in Gaza which has been hit relentlessly
Lifeless: A paramedic wails as he
carries the body of a baby after an Israeli air strike hit the Al Ghoul
family building in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip
Medical care: a boy sits on the
blood-stained floor the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya after he was
wounded in an Israeli strike. The UN has warned Gaza's medical
facilities are 'on the verge of collapse' after a third of its
hospitals, 14 clinics and 29 ambulances were damaged, with two-fifths of
medics unable to get to work
Crowded: Dr. Ambrogio Manenti, acting
Head of Office of the UN World Health Organization, said: 'The ability
to provide necessary healthcare is being severely compromised. This puts
the lives of thousands of Palestinians in needless danger'. Pictured
are victims of a strike in the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya
The state of Gaza's medical facilities
has been the subject of several warnings by the UN and non-profit
campaigns such as human rights group Amnesty International
The
UN has warned Gaza's medical facilities are 'on the verge of collapse'
after a third of its hospitals, 14 clinics and 29 ambulances were
damaged.
Two-fifths
of Gaza's medics are unable to get to work because of the violence and
treatment is thrown into chaos by anonymous false alarms of impending
attacks. Many of those in shelters are reliant on bottled water as the
total amount of British aid pledged to the crisis reaches £13million.
Sanitation
facilities are badly damaged and Gaza City only receives two hours of
electricity per day, the UN added. Some areas have no electricity at all
and one shelter in Jabalia is holding 10,000 people.
Dr.
Ambrogio Manenti, acting Head of Office of the UN World Health
Organization, said: 'The ability to provide necessary healthcare is
being severely compromised. This puts the lives of thousands of
Palestinians in needless danger'.
Robert
Turner, Director of Operations in the Gaza Strip for the UN Relief and
Works Agency, said: 'Hundreds of thousands of people are sheltering in
terrible conditions, pushing UNRWA's coping capacity to the edge.'
No more room: Babies' bodies have been
crammed into an ice cream freezer in Rafah's morgue, which ran out of
room for bodies today amid an infrastructure crisis
Deaths: A man carries a dead girl from
the UN school in Rafah, which was hit by an airstrike today as the
number of people in 90 UN-run shelters neared 270,000
Bloodstained: The gates of the UN school in
Rafah. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said tonight: 'The attack is yet
another gross violation of international humanitarian law. United
Nations shelters must be safe zones not combat zones. The Israel Defence
Forces have been repeatedly informed of the location of these sites'
Breaking point: A third of all of Gaza's
hospitals have been damaged according to the UN. Pictured, a victim is
treated on the floor of Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya
Children: A Palestinian baby girl who was
lightly wounded in an Israeli strike on a house in Beit Lahiya is being
treated at the emergency room of Kamal Adwan hospital
Dr Ambrogio Manenti, acting Head of Office of
the WHO, said: 'The ability to provide healthcare is being severely
compromised. This puts thousands of lives in danger'
In Rafah,
which has seen some of the fiercest assaults, the leader of the Fatah
political faction Ashraf Goma said Israeli forces were bombarding the
town from air, ground and sea and locals were unable to deal with the
wounded and the dead.
'Bodies
of the wounded are bleeding in the streets and other corpses are laid
on the road with no one able to recover them,' he said.
'I
saw a man on a donkey cart bringing seven bodies into the hospital.
Bodies are being kept in ice-cream refrigerators, in flower and
vegetable coolers.'
UN officials said an air-launched missile hit the gates of its school in Rafah, where 3,000 Palestinians
were sheltering from a fresh wave of strikes, killing 10 people and
injuring 35 inside and outside the compound at 10.50am local time.
Bodies
lay on the ground in chaotic scenes as injured children and adults were
rushed through the blood-spattered streets in the arms of residents.
The
Associated Press news agency said many of those hit were waiting for
food supplies outside. Israel's military did not immediately comment.
Robert
Serry, UN Middle East Special Coordinator, said: 'It is simply
intolerable that another school has come under fire while designated to
provide shelter for civilians fleeing the hostilities'.
Bloodshed: Palestinians aid people
injured this morning in another Israeli attack, reportedly on a UN
school in Rafah, southern Gaza, where 3,000 people were sheltering.
Reuters reported the attack was on the entrance of the school itself,
while the Associated Press wrote that it hit people who were queuing for
food handouts nearby
With blood on his sandals and on the
ground, a Palestinian man runs with an injured child after the Israeli
military strike on a UN school in Rafah this morning
Blood lay on the ground and women
cried outside the UN school in Rafah after what was reportedly the
second attack on a school in less than a week
Blood-spattered: People carry a
wounded man following a reported Israeli air strike at the gates of a
United Nations-run school sheltering 3,000 Palestinians
Anguish: Palestinians react as wounded
and dead people lie on the ground following what witnesses said was an
Israeli air strike at a UN-run school in Rafah
It is at
least the sixth UN facility to be hit in Gaza and comes just four days
after at least 15 Palestinians who sought refuge in a UN school in the
Jabalya refugee camp were killed during fighting, with the UN saying it
appeared Israeli artillery had hit the building.
Robert
Turner, the director of operations for the UN Palestinian refugee agency
in Gaza, said preliminary findings indicated the blast was the result
of an Israeli airstrike near the school, which had been providing
shelter for some 3,000 people.
This attack, along with other breaches of
international law, must be swiftly investigated and those responsible
held accountable. It is a moral outrage and a criminal act
'United
Nations shelters must be safe zones not combat zones. The Israel
Defence Forces have been repeatedly informed of the location of these
sites.
'This
attack, along with other breaches of international law, must be swiftly
investigated and those responsible held accountable. It is a moral
outrage and a criminal act.
'The
Secretary-General is profoundly dismayed over the appalling escalation
of violence and loss of hundreds of Palestinian civilian lives since the
breach of the humanitarian ceasefire on August 1.
'The
resurgence in fighting has only exacerbated the man-made humanitarian
and health crisis wreaking havoc in Gaza. Restoring calm can be
achieved through resumption of the ceasefire and negotiations by the
parties in Cairo to address the underlying issues.
'The
Secretary-General repeats his demand to the parties to immediately end
the fighting and return to the path of peace. This madness must stop.'
In
a chaotic scene inside the compound of the U.N. school, several bodies,
among them children, were strewn across the ground in puddles of blood.
Bloody footprints stained the ground where people had rushed the
wounded into ambulances.
'Our trust and our fate is only in the hands of God!' one woman cried.
Some
of the wounded, among them children with bloody head bandages, were
transported to the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah and others were treated in
what seemed to be a makeshift clinic underneath a tent.
Some 3,000 people were sheltering from
Israeli strikes inside the school, said the UN's director of operations
for the Palestinian refugee agency Robert Turner
Hurt: A Palestinian man runs in the
street with an injured child after the reported Israeli military strike
on a UN school in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip
Adnan Abu
Hasna, spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, said: 'It
is believed that there was an air strike that hit outside the gate of an
UNRWA school, a designated shelter for at least 3,000 displaced
residents. There were multiple dead and injuries inside and outside the
school, including an UNRWA staffer'
Several bodies, wrapped in white cloth, were lined up on the floor.
At
least six U.N. facilities, including schools sheltering the displaced,
have been struck by Israeli fire since the conflict began, drawing
international condemnation.
In each case Israel has said it was responding to militants launching rockets or other attacks from nearby.
The
sun rose today over another day of violence in Gaza as at least 30
people - nine from the same family in Rafah - were killed in Israeli
shelling despite reports the military's mission was coming to an end.
Israeli
tanks were seen leaving the densely-packed, rubble-strewn Gaza Strip
before the strikes on the 27th day of the conflict, as security sources
said they had destroyed the vast majority of militants' tunnels.
But
few had seen much hope of peace as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
vowed Hamas would pay an 'intolerable price' for any further rocket
attacks.
Artillery shells slammed into two high-rise office buildings in central Gaza City and the town of Rafah came under heavy fire.
Anguish: A relative carries the body
of one of the nine members of the al-Ghol family who were killed in a
strike early today in Rafah, southern Gaza
Mass death: The bodies of the family
were lined up at a morgue in Rafah where the attacks continued this
morning, including at the gates of a UN school
Tears: A woman cried as she carried a
baby from the family during funeral rites in Rafah today. More than 20
other people in the same building were injured
Death: Palestinians carry the body of a
girl who was found this morning under the rubble of a house where at
least nine members of the al-Ghol family died in Rafah
Wounded: A boy is evacuated from the
rubble of the house. At least 40 people were inside the home at the time
when it was reportedly hit by Israeli jet fighters
Injuries: This boy was injured in
shelling on a house in the Gaza Strip this morning as a renewed assault
killed at least 30 Palestinians, many of them civilians
Even
though IDF forces were seen withdrawing from parts of Gaza yesterday
and this morning amid reports the Hamas tunnel network had been mostly
destroyed, Netanyahu emphasised Israel was determined not to back down.
He
said: 'The military will prepare for continuing action in according to
our security needs. We promised to return the quiet to Israel and that
is what we will do.
'We
will continue to act until that goal is reached, however long it will
take and with as much force needed. Hamas needs to understand that it
will pay an intolerable price as far as it is concerned for continuing
to fire.'
The
death toll stands at more than 1,700 Palestinians and 67 Israelis,
including 64 soldiers, as it emerged that a 23-year-old Israeli soldier
who had been feared kidnapped by Hamas - shattering a 72-hour ceasefire -
was killed in action instead.
Tensions
had been heightened on Friday after Israel declared 23-year-old Hadar
Goldin had been kidnapped by Hamas, shattering a 72-hour ceasefire in
less than 72 minutes.
But
in the early hours today a spokesman for the Israeli Defence Force
(IDF) said he was killed when Hamas soldiers attacked his unit -
contrary to the previous assertions that he could have been captured.
A military panel reached the conclusion that he must have died based on evidence at the scene of the attack, the IDF said.
Rescue workers search for victims
after this home in Rafah was destroyed in an Israeli air strike that
reportedly killed at least nine members of the al-Ghol family
Apocalyptic: The sun rose today on
another day of bloodshed in Gaza as dozens of Palestinians were killed
in dawn shelling with little sign of a truce. Pictured: Beit Lahia
Another family killed: Rescue workers
search for victims where at least five members from the al-Khattab
family died in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip today
Rubble: Large parts of Gaza, the most
densely-populated zone in the world, are reduced to rubble as the UN
warns of an impending health catastrophe
Across the territory men clustered
round hastily-constructed graves dug into the sand as the sun beat down
as bloodied bodies piled up in makeshift morgues
Smoke: The aftermath of a reported
Israeli air strike today in Rafah, which has been pummeled by the
military for days in the escalating Gaza conflict
Mourning: Relatives of the family
which lost at least nine of its members in a strike on a house in Rafah
earlier today. Dozens were killed in the fresh wave of violence
Hunched: An elderly woman carrying a
bucket walks past bombed-out buildings in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza.
There were some signs the offensive was scaling back
Ruins: A Palestinian man walks through
a burned-out building in the wake of air strikes and shelling in
Khuzaa, east of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip
Strikes: Smoke rises from the Al Zafer
tower apartment in Gaza City, which was damaged by an Israeli strike
this morning as the conflict entered its 27th day
Blood red sky: Birds flew over Gaza
City this morning as the sun rose on another day of bloodshed, with 30
people killed in Gaza by renewed Israeli shelling early today
The
ability to provide necessary healthcare is being severely compromised.
This puts the lives of thousands of Palestinians in needless danger
Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon revealed today he is a distant relative of Goldin and had known him his whole life.
The information was previously kept under wraps while Goldin was feared to be abducted.
The
confirmation of Lieutenant Goldin's death came as Gaza lay in ruins,
with Palestinians ravaged by the conflict burying yet more of their
dead, amid reports of Israeli forces withdrawing after achieving their
objectives.
Across the territory men clustered round hastily-constructed graves dug into the sand as the sun beat down - while not far away bloodied bodies were piled high in a walk-in vegetable fridge for emergency storage.
British
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he had received thousands of
emails from the British public expressing horror at the scenes in Gaza
as protests raged outside Parliament and the Israeli embassy in
Kensington, west London.
The
Foreign Secretary, who only began his role three weeks ago, told The
Sunday Telegraph: 'It's a broad swathe of British public opinion that
feels deeply, deeply disturbed by what it is seeing on its television
screens, coming out of Gaza.
He
said: 'The military will prepare for continuing action in according to
our security needs. We promised to return the quiet to Israel and that
is what we will do.
'We will continue to act until that goal is reached, however long it will take and with as much force needed.
'Hamas needs to understand that it will pay an intolerable price as far as it is concerned for continuing to fire.'
Tension: In the early hours today the
Israeli Defence Force (IDF) revealed Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, 23 - whose
supposed kidnap by Hamas caused a ceasefire to break down - in fact
died in the line of duty. Pictured are Members of Lieutenant Goldin's
family, including his brother Zur, right, outside their home in Kfar
Saba
Mourning: Lieutenant Goldin's sister,
Ayelet, left, and his fiancée Edna, right, are seen with tears in their
eyes after the announcement was made
Family: Lea
Goldin, Lieutenant Goldin's mother, is comforted by Haimi, the soldier's
brother, as the family address reporters outside their home
A
row broke out between Ed Miliband and Downing Street after the Labour
leader accused the Prime Minister of getting it 'wrong' on Gaza.
He
condemned Israel's military offensive as 'wrong and unjustifiable', and
attacked the Government's apparent silence, prompting accusations by
Downing Street that he was 'playing politics' and misrepresenting David
Cameron's position.
This endless bloodshed must now stop, for the sake of the people of Gaza, for the sake of the people of Israel
Mr
Miliband said that the Prime Minister was 'right to say that Hamas is an
appalling terrorist organisation' whose 'wholly unjustified' rocket
attacks and construction of tunnels for terrorist purposes had shown its
murderous intent towards Israel.
But the Labour leader added: 'The Prime Minister is wrong not to have opposed Israel's incursion into Gaza.
'His
silence on the killing of hundreds of innocent Palestinian civilians
caused by Israel's military action will be inexplicable to people across
Britain and internationally.'
A
Downing Street spokesman said in response: 'The PM has been clear that
both sides in the Gaza conflict need to observe a ceasefire.
'We are shocked that Ed Miliband would seek to misrepresent that position and play politics with such a serious issue.'
Deputy
Prime Minister Nick Clegg said today: 'This endless bloodshed must now
stop, for the sake of the people of Gaza, for the sake of the people of
Israel. Violence will only beget more violence, extremism will only
beget more extremism.
'It
is so important not only to stop this terrible humanitarian catastrophe
in Gaza itself, with hundreds upon hundreds of innocent civilians being
killed, but also for the long-term security of innocent Israeli
civilians who have been subject to these unacceptable rocket attacks.
'It is essential for everybody on all sides of this conflict that this outburst of military violence must now cease.'
Thumbs up:
Israeli soldier celebrated from their tanks as many ground troops pulled
out of Gaza today - but attacks continued, including on a UN school
An Israeli soldier kisses his Merkava tank along
the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip after he, along with many
other soldiers, pulled out of ground assaults
Dawn on another day of war: An Israeli
soldier stretches early this morning near the border with Gaza as it
emerged another 30 Palestinians had been killed by shelling
Morning: An Israeli tank returns to
base just outside Gaza this morning. There were hopes the operation was
winding down, but another 30 people were killed
Convoy: Israel's tanks began
withdrawing from the Gaza Strip after military tunnels were destroyed,
but there was no clear end in sight to the bloodshed in the region
British Foreign Secretary Philip
Hammond said: 'It's a broad swathe of British public opinion that feels
deeply, deeply disturbed by what it is seeing on television screens'
Praying: An Israeli soldier prays this
morning near the border with Gaza as it appeared the military incursion
would be scaled back - but air strikes continued
Tanks
and troops were filmed rolling out of the Gaza strip yesterday and this
morning, while Israeli military sources said their mission to destroy a
network of tunnels into Israel built by Hamas was mostly complete.
The
conflict has claimed more than 1,700 Palestinian lives - including 300
children - since in began on July 8, and has also cost the lives of more
than 60 Israeli soldiers, and three civilians killed by an unrelenting
stream of rockets fired into Israel.
Britain
is providing a further £3million for aid workers in Gaza, where there
is what International Development Secretary Justine Greening described
as 'nothing short of a humanitarian catastrophe'.
The
activation of Britain's Rapid Response Facility brings the total amount
of British aid given in the current crisis to £13million.
Priority
is being given to projects to provide clean water and sanitation
following extreme water shortages, as well as emergency healthcare,
clearance of unexploded bombs and counselling and care for civilians,
particularly women and children.
The
Department for International Development said that since the Israeli
offensive began on July 8, 136 schools - some serving as shelters - 24
hospitals and clinics and 25 ambulances have been damaged or destroyed.
Distressing: This image circulating
heavily on social media showed a newborn baby - with hospital tags still
attached - wounded by shrapnel. Gazan photographer Samar Abu Alouf told
New York Magazine it was taken on Monday and the baby's name was
Shaima, after her mother. A baby with that name reportedly died two days
later
Bloodied: A medic stands among bodies
yesterday which were placed hastily in a walk-in vegetable fridge in
Rafah, Gaza. Other images were too graphic to publish in full
Horror: A Palestinian relative stands
in the fridge among the mass of bodies, which were bound up in
blood-stained white sheets after Israeli strikes
Eight UN aid workers and at least two Palestinian Red Crescent volunteers have now been reported as killed.
Two-fifths
of the sixth-most densely populated area on Earth is now a war zone,
with a quarter of the Gazan population displaced.
Yesterday
Israel unleashed a fresh wave of air strikes which completely destroyed
Gaza City's Imam Al Shafaey mosque and damaged the historic al-Omeri
mosque in the nearby city of Jabalia.
Dozens of Palestinians were killed in bombardment and shelling in and around Rafah, where Lieutenant Goldin had gone missing.
Elsewhere
in Gaza, Palestinian officials reported more than 150 airstrikes
including several against mosques and one against the Hamas-linked
Islamic University in Gaza City.
The
Israeli military insisted it had attacked five mosques because they
were concealing weapons and the Islamic University was being used as a
research and weapons manufacturing site for Hamas.
Senior
Israeli politicians said they would not attend proposed truce talks
because Hamas had ignored so many ceasefires that there is 'no point'
negotiating.
But
international pressure continued to mount yesterday as protest groups
and politicians the world over pushed for a solution and an end to the
killing.
Protests: Activists turned out to a
pro-Palestinian rally today in Sydney, Australia, holding bloodied dolls
and calling for an end to Israel's military action
The protesters in Sydney held banners
which declared 'Zionism = Apartheid' and featured heavily the red,
green, white and black colours of the Palestinian flag
Pressure: A protester in Sydney.
International condemnation has grown as Britain's Foreign Secretary
called for an immediate end to the bloodshed with no conditions
Counter-rally: Elsewhere in Sydney, at
the Dudley Page Reserve, thousands of pro-Israeli protesters gathered
today calling on the world to stand by the offensive
The supporters of Israel gathered to
condemn rocket attacks by Hamas, hundreds of which have been intercepted
by Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system
Entrenched: Both sides show no sign of
backing down in the current conflict as Israel's Prime Minister vows
swift and 'intolerable' action after every attack by Hamas
Protesters
around the world voiced their fury at the rising toll, with
demonstrations in France, Germany and Arab parts of Israel seizing on
the motif of dead children, holding up red-spattered dolls, or stained
shrouds, to drive home their point.
It came as the UN confirmed that at least 296 Palestinian children have been killed since the offensive began on July 8.
UNICEF,
the UN children's agency, said it only included deaths it could
definitely verify in the total, which is around a third of its total
reported casualties.
They broke the total down to 187 boys and 109 girls, 203 of whom were under 12.
When
governments sell weapons into war zones they cannot absolve themselves
of responsibility for what happens when they are used
Yesterday
new data showed that £42million of 'military list' equipment exports to
Israel were approved by the British Government since 2010, with
£10million in the last 12 months.
Andrew
Smith, of the Campaign Against Arms Trade, told the Independent: 'There
must be an immediate embargo on all arms sales and military
collaboration with Israel. When governments sell weapons into war zones
they cannot absolve themselves of responsibility for what happens when
they are used.'
A
government spokesman said: 'We are currently reviewing all existing
export licences to Israel. All applications for export licences are
assessed on a case by case basis against strict criteria.
'We
will not issue a licence if there is a clear risk that the equipment
might be used for internal repression, or if there is a clear risk that
it would provoke or prolong conflict.'
The
U.S. Congress, meanwhile, voted almost unanimously to pledge another
$225million to restocking Israel's Iron Dome rocket defence system.
One
of the most advanced missile defence systems in the world, the Iron
Dome has been credited by Israel's authorities with shooting down dozens
of Hamas rockets.
Just eight members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted against providing the funding while 395 voted in favour.
On
Thursday, a group that advises Britain's 260,000 Jews on security
matters said anti-Semitic incidents in Britain had risen to a
near-record level since the start of the Israeli offensive.
The
current conflict, among the most lethal in recent decades, began after
three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and found dead in the West Bank.
Israel accused Hamas of the kidnapping, which Hamas denied.
Israel
launched a Gaza air and naval offensive on July 8 following a surge of
cross-border rocket salvoes which later escalated into ground operations
involving heavy tanks.
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