Thousands of Palestinian residents of the northern Gaza Strip fled their homes Sunday and sought safety in U.N. shelters, heeding warnings from the Israeli military about impending plans to bomb the area in the sixth day of an offensive against Hamas that has killed more than 160 people.
The fighting showed no signs of slowing, despite international calls for a cease-fire and growing concerns about the mounting civilian death toll in Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and voiced U.S. “readiness” to help restore calm, while Egypt, a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, continued to work behind the scenes.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate cease-fire in a statement issued late Sunday by his spokesman’s office.
Ban “strongly believes that it is in the interest of both sides that steps toward dangerous escalation be replaced with immediate measures to end the fighting, thus preventing further casualties and greater risks to regional peace and security,” the statement read.
Ban condemned Hamas’ indiscriminate firing of rockets against Israeli civilian targets as “a violation of international law,” according to the statement.
At the same time, the statement read, the U.N. chief is “deeply worried about the impact on Palestinian families of Israeli military action.”
Ban noted that despite the U.N. Security Council’s demand for a cease-fire, “the situation in and around the Gaza Strip appears to be worsening.”
Amid the diplomacy, Israel said it was pushing forward with preparations for a possible ground invasion of Gaza. Thousands of troops have massed along the border in recent days.
“We don’t know when the operation will end,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Sunday. “It might take a long time.” He said the military was prepared “for all possibilities.”
Israel launched the offensive last Tuesday in what it said was a response to heavy rocket fire out of Hamas-controlled Gaza. The military says it has launched more than 1,300 airstrikes, while Palestinian militants have launched more than 800 rockets at Israel. The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza says 166 people have been killed, including dozens of civilians. There have been no Israeli fatalities, though several people have been wounded, including a teenage boy who was seriously injured by rocket shrapnel Sunday.
Early Sunday, the Israeli air force dropped leaflets around the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahia ordering people to evacuate their homes. Israel says much of the rocket fire has come from the area, and overnight Sunday, the military carried out a brief ground operation on what it said was a rocket-launching site that could not be struck from the air. Four Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded before returning to Israel.
The U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians said about 17,000 Palestinians had headed to special shelters set up in 20 U.N. schools in Gaza.
On Sunday night, Israel’s military said rockets were fired at Israel from both Syria and Lebanon in separate incidents. There were no injuries or damage, but Israel fears militant groups along its northern frontier may try to open a second front. The rocket attacks were the second such barrage on Israel from its northern neighbors in recent days.
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