Ukraine in Arabic | Israel to 'resist international pressure' over Gaza

12.07.2014 - 01:45 #Israel, #Gaza, #Benjamin Netanyahu, #Palestine

Israel will resist foreign pressure to halt its operations in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said. He said Israel had attacked more than 1,000 targets there since Tuesday, and was using twice the force it used during a similar operation in 2012. A total of 105 people have died in the Israeli air strikes in the territory, Palestinian sources say.

Israel will resist foreign pressure to halt its operations in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.

He said Israel had attacked more than 1,000 targets there since Tuesday, and was using twice the force it used during a similar operation in 2012.

A total of 105 people have died in the Israeli air strikes in the territory, Palestinian sources say.

Meanwhile, Gaza militants have continued to fire rockets into Israel, causing damage and injuries.

Mr Netanyahu said he had held "very good, positive" telephone consultations with US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

But he added that "no international pressure will prevent us from acting with all power".

James Reynolds reports from a petrol station gutted by a rocket attack in the Israeli city of Ashdod

The Palestinian health ministry says in addition to those killed, 740 people - mainly civilians - have been injured in Israel's Operation Protective Edge since it began on Tuesday.

Israel says "dozens of terrorists" are among the dead.

Analysis: BBC Middle East correspondent Kevin Connolly

To the outside world the Gaza rockets may seem ineffective - partly because many are homemade and partly because they're hopelessly overmatched by Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile defence system.

But Israeli civilians judge the rockets by the intent behind them and not by their military effectiveness. They are grimly familiar with the ritual of running for shelter with their children when they hear a 15-second warning. They expect their government to put a stop to it.

The problem is that there's no easy way of doing that.

Even if you believe in the myth of the accuracy of modern weapons systems you have to accept that air raids are going to kill innocent people.

But UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay says there is "serious doubt" as to whether Israeli's military operation complies with international laws banning the targeting of civilians.

"We have received deeply disturbing reports that many of the civilian casualties, including of children, occurred as a result of strikes on homes," Ms Pillay said in a statement.

Israel has repeatedly insisted that it tries to avoid civilian casualties, but says the militants often place their military assets in residential areas.

Attacks continue

The Palestinian health ministry said the latest air strike in Gaza killed two men, when their house was hit.

Overnight on Thursday and into Friday morning, eight people were killed in three different air strikes, the ministry added.

In Israel, one person was seriously injured when a rocket hit a petrol station in Ashdod on Friday morning, Israeli officials say.

Another Israeli soldier was injured on Thursday, by mortar fire in the Eshkol region, which borders Gaza.

According to the military, 77 rockets hit Israel on Friday, with the Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepting an additional 19.

Lebanon's military also confirmed that militants in the south of the country had fired three rockets into northern Israel in the early hours of Friday and that Israel had shelled the area in response. No injuries were reported.

Some 20,000 Israeli army reservists have been mobilised amid speculation of a ground offensive into Gaza.

The BBC's Kevin Connolly in Jerusalem says a ground invasion would be a big political gamble as the military would have to deliver a clear victory before leaving, and that would be extremely difficult.

Benny Gantz, head of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), told reporters on Friday: "The IDF is not waiting for the last straw to go on a ground offensive, it's waiting on political instruction."

International reaction

Earlier, the US offered to help broker a truce.

After a call to Mr Netanyahu, President Barack Obama said: "The United States remains prepared to facilitate a cessation of hostilities, including a return to the November 2012 ceasefire agreement."

Mr Obama also "expressed concern about the risk of further escalation and emphasised the need for all sides to do everything they can to protect the lives of civilians and restore calm".

Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair said it was necessary to tackle the "longer-term questions at the heart of this violence and conflict".

"Without that long-term solution in place I think it's going to be very difficult to create any short-term peace," he said.

Egypt and Turkey have both criticised Israel's use of force.

Egypt helped broker a truce between Israel and Hamas after a conflict in 2012, but the BBC's Orla Guerin in Cairo says there is currently no sign that Egypt may deliver a ceasefire, as it has done in the past.