Uriel Sinai/Getty Images(JERUSALEM) — The current conflict between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip continued Wednesday with more rockets attacks, more airstrikes and more fatalities.
The United Nations Security Council will meet Thursday morning to discuss the crisis.
The Israeli Defense Force reported Wednesday that since the current conflict began earlier this week, militants in the Gaza Strip have fired more than 200 rockets into Israel. Many of those rockets have been intercepted by Israel’s “Iron Dome” missile defense system.
The IDF says it has struck about 130 terror targets in the Gaza Strip since Wednesday morning, including 31 tunnels, 60 concealed rocket launchers, command centers and weapons caches.
Overall, the IDF says Israeli military jets and ships have targeted approximately 590 targets in Gaza since “Operation Protective Edge” began.
Dozens of people, including several children, have reportedly been killed in Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry says at least 465 people have been wounded. The IDF says there have been no serious casualties on the Israeli side.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of “genocide” in Gaza. Speaking in Ramallah Wednesday, Abbas said, “This is not a war against one faction, or against Hamas, but against the entire Palestinian people.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to further intensify attacks on Hamas. The prime minister’s office said Wednesday that Netanyahu spoke with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and United Nations Security-General Ban Ki-moon by phone and told them, “Hamas is perpetrating a double war crime by deliberately trying to attack Israeli civilians while using the civilian population in Gaza as human shields.”
The Israeli Defense Force said it had proof that Hamas was launching rocket attacks from civilian areas.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon says, “Gaza is on a knife-edge. The deteriorating situation is leading to a downward spiral and could quickly get beyond anyone’s control.”
The current crisis follows the recent kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens, for which Netanyahu blamed Hamas. Later, a Palestinian teen was found burned to death in apparent retaliation.
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