Escalation of missiles, raids and deaths in Gaza. Ban Ki-moon's report to the UN Security Council
Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - Seven Palestinians were killed last night in the Gaza Strip, in a series of Israeli air raids to stop the rain of missiles from Gaza hitting several Israeli towns.
According to Palestinian hospital estimates after three days of air raids at least 64 have been killed, half of them civilians, including women and children.
Israeli
army spokesman, Peter Lerner, said
that last night the air force "hit
322 targets ...
bringing to 750 the
total number of Hamas targets" struck in three days. These
include rockets launching sites, tunnels and Hamas command posts.
Meanwhile, Hamas continues to fire
rockets that have reached Jerusalem,
Tel Aviv and Dimona, where Israel has
- without ever
having-declared it - nuclear
facilities to produce nuclear
weapons. The rockets caused
extensive damage and fear among inhabitants, but so far there are no or injured,
or victims.
The situation is "on a knife
edge," said the UN secretary
general Ban Ki-moon. He called on Israelis and Palestinians to stop the hostilities because the region "cannot afford another full blown war".
Ban Ki-moon demanded that Hamas
militants stop firing rockets and also urged the Israeli government to exercise
restraint and respect international obligations to protect civilians.
An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, requested by some Arab countries, is expected this afternoon. Ban Ki-moon will present a report on the
situation and then there will be
a closed doors discussion.
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