Hamas Leader's House 'Hit By Israeli Missile' As Israel Targets Symbols Of Control In Gaza
Now Israel Is 'Targeting Symbols Of Hamas Control' In Gaza
The Huffington Post UK
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Israeli aircraft, tanks and navy gunboats targeted symbols of Hamas control in Gaza City early Tuesday in the heaviest night of bombardment in three weeks of Israel-Hamas fighting after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of a "prolonged" campaign in Gaza.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei this morning accused Israel of committing "genocide" in Gaza and called on the Islamic world to arm Palestinians fighting "the Zionist regime".
The overnight strikes hit the home of the top Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, as well as government offices and the headquarters of the Hamas satellite TV station.
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An explosion hits the media complex that houses the offices of Hamas-run Al Aqsa television and radio in central Gaza City
Mr Haniyeh's son confirmed the strike on his Facebook page, Sky News reported, but added that the house of the former Hamas Gaza prime minister was empty.
Haniyeh said in a statement. "My house is not more valuable than the houses of other people. Destroying stones will not break our determination."
Israeli forces also reportedly fired hundreds of flares that turned the night sky bright orange. By daybreak Tuesday, a cloud of thick dust from the explosions hung over Gaza City, the Associated Press reported.
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A building within the Gaza port is seen on fire after several early strikes
A Palestinian health official put the overall Gaza death toll at 1,110. Israel has lost 53 soldiers, including four killed Monday in a mortar attack in southern Israel, along with two civilians and a Thai national.
Signalling an escalation of Israel's Gaza operation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israelis Monday to be ready for a "prolonged" war, and the military warned Palestinians in three large neighbourhoods to leave their homes and head immediately for Gaza City.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW:
Gaza Pictures
(01 of12)
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A Palestinian looks for human remains by graves destroyed from an Israeli missile strike, in a crater caused by the strike, at a cemetery in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 28, 2014. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(02 of12)
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A picture taken from the Israeli side shows an Israeli army Merkava tank positionned along the border in front of buildings in the Gaza Strip on July 28, 2014. (credit:DAVID BUIMOVITCH via Getty Images)
(03 of12)
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An Israeli army Merkava tank rolls along the border between Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on July 28, 2014. (credit:DAVID BUIMOVITCH via Getty Images)
(04 of12)
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A Palestinian man, wrapped in his national flag, inspects the rubble of destroyed buildings and houses in the Shejaiya residential district of Gaza City, on July 28, 2014, on the beginning of the Muslim Eid festival ending the month-long fast of Ramadan. (credit:MAHMUD HAMS via Getty Images)
(05 of12)
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A Palestinian man drives a van past the rubble of destroyed buildings and houses in the Shejaiya residential district of Gaza City, on July 28, 2014, on the beginning of the Muslim Eid festival ending the month-long fast of Ramadan. (credit:MAHMUD HAMS via Getty Images)
(06 of12)
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Displaced Palestinian children play at an United Nations (UN) school in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, where they found refugee with their family after fleeing their home in an area under heavy Israeli bombardment in the besieged Palestinian territory, on July 28, 2014, on the beginning of the Muslim Eid festival ending the month-long fast of Ramadan. (credit:MAHMUD HAMS via Getty Images)
(07 of12)
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A Palestinian boy plays near a mini ferris wheel in the wartorn Shejaiya district of Gaza City on July 28, 2014 on the first day of Eid al-Fitr holiday. The Muslim three-day Eid al-Fitr festival, that marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, began notably in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Palestinian territories, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria or Yemen, where reports of sightings of the new moon were received. (credit:MAHMUD HAMS via Getty Images)
Palestinian children play near a damaged mini ferris wheel in the wartorn Shejaiya district of Gaza City on July 28, 2014 on the first day of Eid al-Fitr holiday. The Muslim three-day Eid al-Fitr festival, that marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, began notably in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Palestinian territories, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria or Yemen, where reports of sightings of the new moon were received. (credit:MAHMUD HAMS via Getty Images)
(09 of12)
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Palestinians remove metallic pieces from graves which was damaged in Israeli strikes at Sheikh Radwan cemetery, northwest of Gaza City on July 28, 2014 on the first day of Eid al-Fitr holiday, that marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. (credit:MARCO LONGARI via Getty Images)
(10 of12)
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Palestinians inspect and clean graves which was damaged in Israeli strikes at Sheikh Radwan cemetery, northwest of Gaza City on July 28, 2014 on the first day of Eid al-Fitr holiday, that marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. (credit:MARCO LONGARI via Getty Images)
(11 of12)
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Palestinian children sit next to hanged clothes, on the First day of Eid al-Fitr in a United Nations school where dozens of families have sought refuge after fleeing their homes in fear of Israeli airstrikes, in the Jabaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 28, 2014. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(12 of12)
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A Palestinian man visits the graves of relatives marking the first day of Eid al-Fitr in a cemetery in Jabaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 28, 2014. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Netanyahu defended the Gaza air and ground offensive, saying in a televised speech Monday that "there is no war more just than this."
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 UN Security Council and growing pressure from the United States.