‘Gate of hell’ opened in Gaza massacre
THIRTEEN Israeli soldiers and 87 Palestinians were killed yesterday as Gaza suffered its bloodiest single day of the ongoing conflict.
Last night, Hamas claimed it had also captured an Israeli soldier.
The Israeli Defence Forces said: “We are looking into it.”
This is in addition to the 13 soldiers who died during the overnight offensive, taking Israel’s death toll to 18.
The gate of hell opened
There were horrifying scenes of dead and dying Palestinians left abandoned in the streets of Gaza yesterday under the heaviest shelling since the bombardment began 13 days ago. Most casualties were at Shejaiya, east of Gaza City.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas described it as a “massacre”.
As thousands of civilians fled for their lives, resident Jawad Hassanain said: “The gate of hell opened. All you could hear was a heavy bombardment, with the smell of fire and death.”
One woman in a wheelchair could be seen waving a white flag as aerial assaults and tank fire continued around her in Gaza City. But Jerusalem warned it was expanding its ground offensive and said additional forces had joined “the effort to combat terror”.
Britain’s new Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond urged Israel to minimise civilian casualties.