Israel vows to go all out against Hamas despite international pressure

Gaza is facing a ground invasion by the Israeli army.

An airstrike outside a home on the morning of July 12 brought the Palestinian death toll to more than 100 in just four days of cross-border fighting between Israel and Palestinians, with Israel showing no signs of stopping its military operations despite international pressure to negotiate a ceasefire with Palestinian militants.

Israel airstrikes Gaza Strip (photo: timeslive)

Asked if Israel would shift from four days of mostly air strikes to a ground war in Gaza to stop rocket fire by Hamas militants, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu replied: “We are considering all possibilities and preparing for all possibilities.”

Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv a day after a phone call with US President Obama about the most intense outbreak of violence between Israel and Palestine in the past two years, Mr. Netanyahu said: “No international pressure can stop us from acting with all our strength.”

On July 11, Washington affirmed Israel's right to self-defense in a statement from the Pentagon. However, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon that he was concerned about "the risk of escalation and stressed the need for all sides to do everything possible to protect civilians and restore calm."

Early on July 12, an Israeli airstrike killed five young men and wounded 15 outside a home in the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, witnesses and medical officials said.

Meanwhile, a rocket hit a fuel tanker, seriously wounding one person and wounding seven other Israelis in Ashdod, 30km north of Gaza. Palestinian militants warned international airlines that they would fire rockets at Tel Aviv's main airport.

Gaza health officials say at least 75 civilians, including 23 children, have been killed in Israeli bombardment since early last week, with 12 dead on 12 July alone.

Palestinian President Abbas urged the UN Security Council to order an immediate ceasefire, but Israel said it was determined to end cross-border rocket attacks that intensified last month after its forces arrested hundreds of Hamas activists in the West Bank following the kidnapping and killing of three Jewish teenagers.

Israel has struck more than 1,000 targets in Gaza.

Israeli military chief General Benny Gantz said his forces were ready to act as needed: “We are in the middle of an offensive and we are prepared to expand it as much as required, to wherever it is needed, with whatever force is required and for as long as it is needed.”

This could be a sign that Israel is ready to send tanks and infantry into Gaza as they did in early 2009, in which 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed./.

According to VOV