Scores dead in ground battle as cease-fire efforts stall
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The first major ground battle in two weeks of Israel-Hamas fighting exacted a steep price Sund-ay: It killed 65 Palestinians and 13 Israeli soldiers and forced thousands of terrified Palestinian civilians to flee their neighborhood, reportedly used to launch rockets at Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the offensive would continue “as long as necessary.”
But Hamas seems defiant, international cease-fire efforts are stalled, and international criticism is becoming more vocal as the death toll among Palestinian civilians rises.
U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon called Israel’s latest incursion “atrocious,” and said it must do far more to protect civilians.
In Israel, public opinion will struggle to tolerate rising military losses. Sunday’s deaths marked the highest number of soldiers killed on a single day since Israel’s war in Lebanon in 2006.
Two Americans who were soldiers for the Israel Defense Force were killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip.
Stuart Steinberg confirmed on Sunday the death of his son Max Steinberg, 24. Steinberg, whose family lives in Southern California, was a sharpshooter for the Golani Brigade. He was one of the 13 men killed in fighting Sunday. Earlier Sunday, the IDF said Sgt. Nissim Sean Carmeli, 21, was killed in combat in the Gaza Strip. Carmeli was from South Padre Island, Texas.
The ferocious battle in Gaza City’s Shijaiyah neighborhood came on the third day of Israel’s ground offen- sive.
In all, at least 432 Palestinians were killed and more than 3,000 wounded in the past two weeks. The overall death toll on the Israeli side rose to 20, including 18 soldiers.
On Sunday evening, Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri in Gaza claimed his group had captured an Israeli soldier. An announcement on Gaza TV of the soldier’s capture set off celebration in the streets of Gaza City.
But the claim could not immediately be verified, and the Israeli military said it was investigating the report.