'Death and horror' in Gaza as thousands flee

Israeli bombardment
Fiercest fighting yet as Israel widens ground offensive and faces
accusations of war crimes over rising number of civilian deaths
Palestinians flee their homes in Gaza's eastern Shejaiya district on Sunday after
heavy Israeli shelling. Photograph !ohammed "bed#"FP#Getty Images
Peter Beaumont in Gaza $ity and Harriet Sherwood in %erusalem&
Sunday '( %uly '()*
+he fiercest fighting of the ),&day war in Gaza erupted on Sunday
asIsrael dramatically widened its ground offensive- sending tan.s and troops into
urban areas and causing thousands of panic.ed civilians to flee.
Images of the corpses of women and children lying in streets were posted on
Faceboo. as hospitals were overwhelmed with the dead- injured and those see.ing
sanctuary from the onslaught.
Palestinian human rights organisations warned that the disproportionate number of
civilian deaths could constitute a war crime committed by Israel.
/espite Israel saying it had agreed to a two&hour ceasefire in the middle of the day-
re0uested by the 1ed $ross- to allow for the injured and dead to be evacuated-
shelling and gunfire continued. Israel blamed continued 2amas roc.et fire for the
brea.down of the humanitarian truce.
"ll morning- terrified people ran from their homes- some barefoot and nearly all empty&
handed. 3thers crowded on the bac.s of truc.s or rode on the bonnets of cars in a
desperate attempt to flee. S.y 4ews reported that some had described a 5massacre5
in Shujai'iya. 6itnesses reported hearing small arms fire inside Gaza- suggesting gun
battles on the streets. 2eavy shelling continued from the air and sea.
7odies were pulled from rubble amid massive destruction of buildings in the
neighbourhood. !as.ed gunmen were on the streets.
8ate on Saturday evening- Israeli forces hit eastern areas of Gaza $ity with the
heaviest bombardment yet of the ),&day war. +he assault was most intense in the
direction of Shujai'iya- where an orange glow of flames lit up the s.y. "t one stage-
artillery and mortar rounds were hitting the outs.irts of the city every five seconds.
8ater in the night jets flew low passes over the coast.
+he Guardian saw families s0ueezing into the bac. of what few vehicles were
available as streets further east were pounded by artillery fire.
$olumns of people- many of them too scared- angry and shoc.ed to spea.-
approached down the main road to the east and from side streets even as small arms
fire was audible in the distance.
3ne of those fleeing was Sabreen 2attad- ,*- with her three children. 5+he Israeli
shells were hitting the house. 6e stayed the night because we were so scared but
about si9 in the morning we decided to escape-5 she said.
57ut where are we supposed to go: +he ambulances could not enter and so we ran
under shell fire.5
+hree other men pass by in a hurry clutching bedding in their arms. "s.ed what they
had seen they would only answer 5/eath and horror.5
!any of those escaping Shujai'iya made for Gaza's central Shifa hospital- which was
engulfed by chaotic scenes and ambulances ferrying the dead came in a steady
steam- among them a local +; cameraman- <haled 2amad- .illed during the overnight
offensive- wheeled out wrapped in a bloody plastic shroud.
+hose who had fled congregated in corridors- on stairs and in the hospital car par..
Staff put mattresses on floors to accommodate the injured- while some patients were
being evacuated.
"ish Ijla- ,=- whose leg was bro.en by shrapnel- said 56e live very close to the
border. 6hen the shells started we couldn't leave the house. It is two storeys. +he
shells were hitting the upper floor so we all moved downstairs. +here were ,( of us in
the house. +hen the shrapnel started hitting the door.
5It was 0uiet for a moment and we decided to run. 7ut as we were on the road a shell
landed near me- brea.ing my leg. I told the family to go on with out me and carried on
going for a little bit and stopping then going on. >ventually an ambulance reached me
after two hours.5
!ore than ?,-((( people had sought sanctuary in *@ shelters it was providing in
Gaza- and it e9pected the numbers to rise- the A4 agency for Palestinian refugees-
A416"- said. 5+he number has tripled in the last three days reflecting the intensity of
the conflict and the inordinate threats the fighting is posing to civilians. 6e call on all
sides to e9ercise ma9imum restraint and to adhere to obligations under international
law to protect civilians and humanitarian wor.ers-5 said spo.esman $hris Gunness.
"n Israeli air stri.e on the house of senior 2amas official <halil al&2ayya .illed his son
and daughter&in&law and two children- hospital officials said. 4ear the southern town of
1afah shelling .illed four Palestinians- according to officials.
Israel sent more troops into Gaza overnight after demolishing more than a dozen
2amas tunnels and intensifying tan. fire on border areas. Israel disclosed that at least
four soldiers had been .illed in its ground offensive- and that more than two dozen
wounded soldiers evacuated to hospitals. +here were unconfirmed reports that Israel
suffered significant military casualties in a cross&border attac. by 2amas militants on
Sunday morning.
8ieutenant colonel Peter 8erner of the I/F said additional troops had been sent into
Gaza on the orders of the government. 5Forces have undergone an intensified training
and thorough planning period and are prepared and stand ready for the tas. at hand-5
he said.
+he Israeli military was setting up a field hospital to treat injured Palestinians at >rez-
the northern border crossing between Gaza and Israel.
Since the start of Israel&2amas fighting almost two wee.s ago- ,*= Palestinians have
been .illed and '-B(( wounded in Israeli air and artillery stri.es- according to
Palestinian health officials. " 0uarter of the deaths were reported since the start of the
ground offensive late +hursday- they said.
Shawan %abarin- of the Palestinian human rights organisation "l&2a0- warned that
Israel could be committing war crimes. 5Israel has one of the most technologically
advanced armies in the world both in terms of weaponry and intelligence. Cet-
throughout this latest escalation of attac.s- as with 3peration $ast 8ead and
3peration Pillar of /efence- we see a disproportionate number of civilian deaths and
damage to civilian property.5
%abarin added 5+he obligation not to target civilians and civilian infrastructure is
absolute and any intentional violation of this obligation amounts to a war crime.5
"s fighting raged- the A4 secretary general- 7an <i&moon- headed to Datar on
Sunday as part of renewed cease&fire efforts. 2e was due to meet the Palestinian
president- !ahmoud "bbas- in /oha.
"bbas was also e9pected to meet <haled !eshaal- the 2amas leader based in the
Datari capital.
!eanwhile- according to the >gyptian newspaper "hram- the AS secretary of state-
%ohn <erry- was travelling to $airo to aid the mediation effort.
2amas last wee. rejected an >gyptian call to both sides to halt hostilities- insisting on
advance guarantees that Israel and >gypt will significantly ease their border bloc.ade
of Gaza. Datar has presented a ceasefire proposal incorporating 2amas's demands-
while >gypt said on Saturday it had no plans to revise its ceasefire proposal.
Israel is opposed to Datar's involvement- and insists that >gypt must be a party to any
deal. /oha hosts a large number of e9iled Islamists from across the !iddle >ast
including !eshaal.
+he French foreign minister- 8aurent Fabius- who flew to Israel after meetings in >gypt
and %ordan- said on Saturday efforts to secure a ceasefire had failed. 5Sadly I can say
that the call for a ceasefire has not been heard- and on the contrary- there's a ris. of
more civilian casualties that worries us-5 he said- after tal.s with the Israeli prime
minister- 7enjamin 4etanyahu.
"ccording to the Israeli military- its soldiers have uncovered ,* shafts leading into
about a dozen underground tunnels- some as deep as ,( metres. Israel has said
demolishing tunnels is the principal goal of its ground operation and it has released
footage showing tunnels being demolished by e9cavators and air stri.es.
+he I/F reported there were three cross&border incidents on Saturday. +he most
serious involved )' Palestinian militants disguised in Israeli uniforms- who emerged
from a tunnel in Israel to fire an anti&tan. missile at Israeli troops- .illing two and
injuring several others.
+hey were 5aiming to carry out a lethal attac.5 on a nearby Israeli community- the I/F
said. +he dead soldiers were named as 7ar 1ahav- ')- and 7enayahu 1ubel- '(.
"t least one Palestinian was .illed in the clash. 2amas said its fighters too. some of
the soldiers' weapons bac. to their hideouts.
In other confrontations- Palestinian gunmen emerged from tunnels and e9changed
gunfire with Israeli soldiers. +wo of the militants were .illed- and another died when the
e9plosive vest he was wearing detonated- the military said.
In one incident- 2amas fighters carried tran0uilisers and handcuffs- indicating they
5intended to abduct Israelis5- according to the military.
"s the offensive intensified- electricity and water supplies in Gaza were increasingly
disrupted.
+he Gaza $ity municipality said a main water line was damaged- leaving parts of the
city without water. Gaza has suffered from rolling blac.outs for years- but periods
without electricity have increased to up to '( hours at a day.
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