Israel Attack Targeting Hospitals In Gaza Strip

Israel Attack Targeting Hospitals In Gaza Strip

Posted by Unknown on August 9, 2014

Israel has denied deliberately targeting hospitals or civilians in Gaza as a three-day truce ended in more bloodshed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government said it is targeting "terror sites across the Gaza Strip" in response to Hamas rocket attacks.

A 10-year-old Palestinian boy was killed and five other boys injured in an airstrike near a mosque in Gaza City, according to doctors in the area.

At least 30 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel since the truce ended at 6am UK time, Israeli army officials say.

A rocket that hit the Sdot Negev regional council injured a civilian and a soldier, the Israeli military tweeted.

Earlier, Amnesty International claimed it has evidence that Israel's military forces have specifically targeted hospitals, health workers and ambulance personnel during the conflict.

However, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told Sky News: "We don't target hospitals, we don't target civilians."

He added: "What we've had to do on a number of occasions is to hit terrorist targets in the immediate vicinity of hospitals and things like that, where they've abused them.

"And what you've seen is there's a whole series of reports coming out of Gaza from journalists across the planet - not Israeli journalists, Canadians, Finns, Indian journalists and others - who have all reported that Hamas has got this systematic pattern of behaviour where they deliberately abuse humanitarian structures to shoot their rockets at Israel.

"So actually if they're turning these humanitarian sites into warzones, they should be accountable."

He said Hamas "threw away the chance" to extend the ceasefire and Israel waited six hours before striking back.

Thousands of Palestinians are fleeing their homes in north and east Gaza as Mr Netanyahu ordered "forceful retaliation".

Sky's Katie Stallard, in Gaza City, heard two loud explosions and Israeli F16 fighters overhead.

Israeli tanks also fired into northern Gaza and Israeli gunboats targeted the central area of the strip, according to reports.

Delegates from Israel have left talks in Cairo with Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) on stopping the bloodshed.

The month-long violence, punctuated by brief periods of truce, has killed nearly 1,900 Palestinians, while Israel has lost 64 soldiers and three civilians.

UN figures indicate that 73% of the Palestinian victims, 1,354 people, were civilians.

Of that number, at least 429 were children.

As the conflict continued, a Gaza teenager and Israeli teacher - both living under threat of bombardment in the region's ongoing conflict - have taken part in a passionate Google Hangout discussion on Sky News.

Farah Baker and Adele Raemer tackled controversial issues including allegations that Hamas uses civilians as human shields and Israel's shelling of UN schools used as shelters by Palestinian children.