Scores die 
as Israel 
escalates 
its Gaza 
campaign

The fighting against Hamas militants, including heavy Israeli tank fire, has left at least 65 people dead, forced thousands to flee, and damaged or destroyed dozens of homes.

Palestinian health officials reported at least 65 people killed as air and artillery strikes echoed across the city for hours. They put the number of displaced at 35,000.

At least 420 Palestinians and seven Israelis have died in the near two-week conflict which escalated as UN chief Ban Ki-moon headed to the region to try to revive ceasefire efforts.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, meanwhile, said he expects to arrive in the Middle East in coming days and that he support’s Egypt’s call for an immediate cease-fire, rejected last week by Hamas.

The Islamic militants say they want guarantees that Gaza’s border blockade will be eased before agreeing to stop fighting.

Yesterday’s battle in Gaza City’s Shijaiyah neighbourhood was the deadliest so far in Israel’s three-day-old ground offensive, which followed 10 days of heavy air strikes on targets linked to Gaza’s Hamas rulers.

Israel has said it had sent thousands of troops into Gaza to destroy Hamas rocket launchers and tunnels dug by the Islamic militants to sneak into Israel. The Israeli military said 8 pr cent of more than 1,700 rockets fired at Israel since July 8 came from Shijaiyah.

Local residents said Israeli tanks entered after midnight and fired heavily.

“The gate of hell has opened, and shrapnel came through the windows,” Shijaiyah resident Jawad Hassanain said by telephone.

He said he and his family sought shelter in a nearby building after their house shook from the explosions.

“From 12.30am until 4am, all you could hear is heavy bombardment, the smell of fire and the smell of death. By 4.30am, and after the call for the prayer, we were able to get in an ambulance,” he added.

After daybreak, dozens of wounded from Shijaiyah were rushed to Gaza’s central Shifa Hospital. Frantic parents carried children bloodied by shrapnel, and the emergency room quickly overflowed, forcing doctors to treat some patients on mattresses in a hallway. During a brief Red Cross-brokered lull, paramedics entered the neighbourhood to retrieve the dead.

Palestinian health officials said at least 65 people were killed and 288 wounded in Shijaiyah, bringing the overall Palestinian toll since July 8 to 425 dead and some 3,000 wounded.

Seven Israelis also were killed, including five soldiers, the military said. Dozens of soldiers have been wounded since the start of the ground operation, according to Israeli hospitals.

Lt Col Peter Lerner, a military spokesman, said the military met a “huge” level of resistance from Hamas militants in Shijaiyah. He said Shijaiyah had been a main rocket-launching area and that people were warned ahead of the offensive to leave the area.