Netanyahu: Expect war to stretch on

Strike kills 9 kids in park; 2 sides blame each other

Palestinians grieve after identifying their loved one at the morgue of Gaza City's Shifa hospital, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 28, 2014. An explosion killed 10 people, 9 of them children, at a park at Shati refugee camp, in northern Gaza Strip. Israeli and Palestinian authorities traded blame over the attack and fighting in the war raged on despite a major Muslim holiday. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Palestinians grieve after identifying their loved one at the morgue of Gaza City's Shifa hospital, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 28, 2014. An explosion killed 10 people, 9 of them children, at a park at Shati refugee camp, in northern Gaza Strip. Israeli and Palestinian authorities traded blame over the attack and fighting in the war raged on despite a major Muslim holiday. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Signaling an escalation of Israel's Gaza operation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israelis on Monday to be ready for a "prolonged" war, and the military warned Palestinians in three large neighborhoods to leave their homes and head immediately for Gaza City.

The warnings came on a day of heavy Hamas-Israeli fighting in which nine children were killed by a strike on a Gaza park where they were playing, according to Palestinian health officials -- a tragedy that each side blamed on the other.

Israeli tanks also resumed heavy shelling in border areas of Gaza, killing five people, including three children and a 70-year-old woman, and wounding 50 in the town of Jebaliya, which was among the areas warned to evacuate, the Red Crescent said.

Many Jebaliya residents said they did not dare attempt an escape. Sufian Abed Rabbo said his extended family of 17 had taken refuge under the stairway in its home.

"God help us. We have nothing to do but pray," the 27-year-old said in a phone interview. "I don't know who left and who stayed, but in our street, we are all very scared to move."

Later Monday, Israeli forces fired a large number of flares over Gaza City, turning the night sky a bright orange.

The latest bloodshed came despite mounting international calls for a cease-fire and followed failed attempts by both sides to agree to even a lull in fighting of several hours for the start of the three-day Muslim holiday of Eid el-Fitr that marks the end of Ramadan.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry said 10 people, including nine children under the age of 12, were killed and 46 wounded in the blast at a park in the Shati refugee camp on the outskirts of Gaza City.

Each side blamed the other.

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, said the explosion was caused when a rocket launched by Gaza militants misfired and landed in the park. Palestinian police and civil defense said an Israeli missile hit as children were playing on a swing set.

"The children were playing and were happy, enjoying Eid, and they got hit," said Nidal Aljerbi, a witness.

After three weeks of bloodshed, both Israel and Hamas are holding out for bigger gains, and a cease-fire remains elusive despite an appeal by the U.N. Security Council and growing pressure from the United States.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reinforced the Security Council's call for an immediate and unconditional humanitarian cease-fire Monday and demanded that Israel and Hamas end the violence "in the name of humanity."

The U.N. chief accused Netanyahu and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal of being irresponsible and "morally wrong" for letting their people get killed in the conflict. He urged them to demonstrate "political will" and "compassionate leadership" to end the suffering of war-weary citizens.

"Gaza is in critical condition" after pummeling by Israeli forces that has killed helpless civilians and raised "serious questions about proportionality," he said.

Ban said there must be accountability and justice for actions committed by all sides. He stressed that as an occupying power, Israel has "an international legal obligation to protect civilians" and called on its government to do "vastly more" to ensure the safety of U.N. sites where more than 173,000 Gazans have sought refuge.

Israel says its troops will not leave Gaza until they have demolished scores of Hamas military tunnels under the Gaza-Israel border that militants use to infiltrate Israel and smuggle weapons. Hamas says it will not cease fire until it receives international guarantees Gaza's 7-year-old border blockade by Egypt and Israel will be lifted.

Netanyahu defended the Gaza air and ground offensive, saying in a televised speech Monday that "there is no war more just than this."

"Israeli citizens cannot live with the threat from rockets and from death tunnels -- death from above and from below," Netanyahu said. He said Israelis would not "end this operation without neutralizing the tunnels, whose sole purpose is killing our citizens."

His defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, spoke of a campaign that could last "more long days."

"If the terrorist organizations in Gaza think they can break Israel and its citizens," Yaalon said, "they will come to understand in the next few days that this is not the case."

Israel has said it is defending its citizens against attack from Gaza by hitting Hamas rocket launchers, weapons storage sites and military tunnels. However, there is growing U.S. frustration with the mounting number of Palestinian casualties -- at least 1,072 killed and 6,450 wounded since July 8, the vast majority civilians, according to Hamas health officials.

The Israeli military says 52 soldiers have been killed, including four killed Monday in a mortar attack on southern Israel. Two Israeli civilians and a Thai citizen working in Israel also have been killed.

U.S. urges cease-fire

President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have been pressing Israel to accept an immediate and unconditional humanitarian cease-fire.

The Obama administration pushed back Monday against a torrent of Israeli criticism over Kerry's latest bid to secure a cease-fire with Hamas, accusing some in Israel of launching a "misinformation campaign" against the top American diplomat.

"It's simply not the way partners and allies treat each other," State Department spokesman Jen Psaki said.

Her comments were echoed by the White House, where national security adviser Susan Rice said the U.S. was "dismayed" by mischaracterizations of Kerry's efforts. Israeli media reports have cast Kerry as seeking a cease-fire that is more favorable to Hamas and being dismissive of key Israeli concerns.

Kerry himself, in a speech to the Center for American Progress, noted the criticism but did not give ground.

"Make no mistake, when the people of Israel are rushing to bomb shelters, when innocent Israeli and Palestinian teenagers are abducted and murdered, when hundreds of innocent civilians have lost their lives, I will and we will make no apologies for our engagement," he said.

As Kerry returned from the region over the weekend, Israeli media commentators leveled almost nonstop criticism of his attempts to bring Qatar and Turkey -- two countries viewed by Israel as strong Hamas supporters -- into the cease-fire negotiations. Kerry was also accused of abandoning some of Israel's key demands during the negotiations, including demilitarizing Gaza.

In trying to implement the cease-fire over the weekend, "U.S. Secretary of State of State John Kerry ruined everything," wrote columnist Ari Shavit in Monday's Haaretz, Israel's leading liberal newspaper. "Very senior officials in Jerusalem described the proposal that Kerry put on the table as a 'strategic terrorist attack.'"

Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer sought to distance his government from that view, saying, "The criticism of Secretary Kerry for his good faith efforts to advance a sustainable cease-fire is unwarranted."

"There is broad understanding between Israel and the United States about the principles for a sustainable cease-fire, and we look forward to continuing to work closely with the United States to advance that goal and a durable solution to the problems in Gaza," Dermer said Monday.

U.S. officials disputed the notion that Kerry had formally presented Israel a cease-fire proposal and cast the document in question as a draft given to the Israelis as part of an effort to gain their input in seeking a week-long cessation of hostilities. Officials said the draft was based on an earlier Egyptian cease-fire proposal that Israel had accepted but Hamas had rejected.

Psaki said the U.S. was "surprised and obviously disappointed" to see the draft proposal made public. She also argued that there was a difference between the characterization of Kerry's handling of the negotiations by Israeli media and what government officials were telling the U.S. privately.

"No one is calling to complain about the secretary's handling of the situation," Psaki said.

But House Speaker John Boehner said Monday that support for Israel must be the United States' main focus and not peace mediation.

"At times like this, people try to isolate Israel -- but we are here to stand with Israel," Boehner said in remarks at the National Press Club. "Not just as a broker or observer -- but as a strong partner and a trusted ally."

Boehner defined that support: "Well, it doesn't mean issuing vague, on-the-one-hand, on-the-other-hand statements. No, it means backing up our words, and showing solidarity with our friend."

Boehner said the U.S. House will always support Israel's right to defend itself.

"We will not equate professional militaries with terrorist organizations that use human shields and seek to maximize civilian casualties," Boehner said. "And we insist that the demilitarization of Gaza be not just a House goal but a shared, uncompromising U.S. and international objective."

Long ground war

Netanyahu said Monday that Israel won't end its offensive until Hamas' network of tunnels under the Gaza-Israel border has been neutralized.

"We need to be ready for a prolonged campaign," he said. "We will continue to act aggressively and responsibly until the mission is completed to protect our citizens, soldiers and children."

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri responded defiantly.

"His threats do not scare Hamas or the Palestinian people, and the occupation will pay the price for the massacres against civilians and children," he said.

Israel's last major Gaza invasion ended in January 2009 after 23 days, one-third of that time with troops on the ground. Already, the current ground operation, which began 11 days ago, has lasted longer than the one in 2009.

In recent days, Israeli leaders have debated whether to withdraw from Gaza after the tunnels are demolished or to expand the ground operation to deliver a more painful blow against Hamas. Those in favor of an escalation have argued that unless Hamas is toppled and disarmed, a new round of Israel-Gaza fighting is inevitable. Opponents say attempting to reoccupy densely populated Gaza, even if for a short period, could quickly entangle Israel politically and militarily and drive up the number of dead.

In his remarks Monday, Netanyahu didn't let on which way he is leaning and did not announce an immediate broadening of the ground invasion in Gaza. However, he insisted that "preventing the arming of terror groups and demilitarizing Gaza must be part of any solution," indicating that Israel's aims are broader than initially stated.

For now, ground forces have largely operated on the edges of Gaza.

The Israeli military has said it has located 31 tunnels, is aware of the existence of 10 more and has so far demolished close to 20.

Gaza militants have repeatedly used the tunnels to sneak into Israel, including on Monday when several infiltrated into southern Israel. The army said one Hamas militant coming through a tunnel was killed in a firefight but that searches in the area were continuing.

The Hamas military wing said nine of its fighters infiltrated and attacked an army post.

After three weeks of battle, "our fighters still have a lot of surprises in store for the leaders of the occupation and their elite soldiers," the group said in a statement.

The blast at the Gaza park occurred within minutes of a separate strike Monday afternoon on nearby Shifa Hospital, Gaza City's largest medical facility. Several people were wounded in the blast near one of the hospital's outpatient clinics, Hamas health officials said.

Lerner, the army spokesman, denied Israel was involved in the two attacks.

"This incident was carried out by Gaza terrorists whose rockets fell short and hit the Shifa Hospital and the Beach [Shati] camp," he said, adding that the military had identified 200 "failed launchings" so far.

Early Tuesday, the military released aerial photographs that it said showed the paths of two misfired Hamas rockets it said hit the park and Shifa Hospital. It said the rockets were detected by Israeli military radar and sensors.

Gaza's police operations room and civil defense department blamed the attacks on Israeli airstrikes.

Gaza's Interior Ministry spokesman Eyad al-Bozum said he believes that shrapnel found in the dead and wounded is evidence of Israel's role in the incident.

Information for this article was contributed by Karin Laub, Tia Goldenberg, Ibrahim Barzak, Ian Deitch, Yousur Alhlou, Matthew Lee, Julie Pace, Edith M. Lederer and Donna Cassata of The Associated Press and by Isabel Kershner, Ben Hubbard and Fares Akram of The New York Times.

A Section on 07/29/2014

Upcoming Events