GAZA: Destroyed cars and desperate emergency crews battle blazes in the Gaza Strip, while Palestinians crowd the hallways of a hospital in Beit Lahiya as deadly Israeli airstrikes on coastal territory raise the Gaza death toll to 687

Record ID: 355867

  • Title: GAZA: Destroyed cars and desperate emergency crews battle blazes in the Gaza Strip, while Palestinians crowd the hallways of a hospital in Beit Lahiya as deadly Israeli airstrikes on coastal territory raise the Gaza death toll to 687
  • Date: 23rd July 2014
  • Summary: MAN CARRYING WOUNDED CHILD
  • Embargoed: 7th August 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Gaza
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: Conflict
  • Reuters ID: LVA7F8WVHPQPPTN0RSBE2AZTJ018
  • Story Text: Emergency service workers battled raging fires and a relentless train of wounded Palestinians on Wednesday (July 23) after deadly airstrikes in coastal areas of the Gaza Strip and other skirmishes across the area saw Gaza death toll rise to 687.
    The bombed out remains of vehicles were seen smouldering as Palestinian fire crews rushed to douse their charred shells and clear the scene.
    Two Palestinians were killed in an air strike on a vehicle in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis, and a third was seriously wounded, hospital officials said.
    Three others were killed, among them a child in Beit Lahiya, the Deputy Head of Emergency at Kamal Odwan Hospital, Doctor Bassam Al Masri, told Reuters.
    "Three hours ago we received three bodies that arrived in pieces as a result of an aerial air strike which led to the death of two young men in their 20s and a four-month-old girl who died from shrapnel wounds which killed her on the spot. Medical units could not save their lives," he said.
    Fighting raged across Gaza, displacing thousands more Palestinians in the battered territory as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said efforts to secure a truce between Israel and Hamas had made some progress.
    In a blow to Israel's economy and image, American aviation authorities extended a ban on U.S. flights to Tel Aviv for a second day, spooked by rocket salvoes out of the Gaza Strip, with many other global airlines also avoiding the Jewish state.
    Adding to the pressure on Israel, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said there was "a strong possibility" that it was committing war crimes in Gaza, where 687 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died in the fighting.
    She also condemned indiscriminate Islamist rocket fire out of Gaza and the United Nations Human Rights Council said it would launch an international inquiry into alleged violations.
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