Israel kills senior Gaza militant, mulls next move
By DANIEL ESTRIN and IBRAHIM BARZAK
18 hours ago
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| Smoke from an Israeli strike rises over the Gaza Strip, Friday, July 25, 2014. An Israeli defense official … |
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.
Israeli ground
troops and Hamas gunmen fought intense battles in the north and center
of the territory, Palestinian officials said.
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.
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.
___
Barzak reported from Gaza City. Associated Press writer Karin Laub in Gaza City, Gaza Strip contributed to this report.
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