- guardian.co.uk,
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Binyamin Netanyahu has instructed Israel's military to continue air strikes in Gaza for as long as rockets are being fired from the territory, as efforts intensified to prevent the recent cycle of violence spiralling into an all-out war.
The Israeli prime minister gave orders for the air strikes to be as surgical as possible, telling military chiefs that the militants responsible for the rocket fire were the target, not civilians, according to his spokesman.
A 12-year-old boy was seriously injured when an Israeli missile struck a group of children in Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza. Three children have been among the 15 Palestinians killed by the military since Thursday's bloodshed on the Israel-Egypt border that triggered the current crisis.
In Ofakim, an Israeli town close to the border with Gaza, a funeral was held for a 38-year-old man killed by a Grad rocket on Saturday night. The military wing of Hamas, the Islamist group that rules Gaza, claimed responsibility for firing four rockets that landed in or near Ofakim.
About 100 rockets have been fired from Gaza since Thursday, most of which have landed on open ground. Amid mounting calls by some Israeli politicians for a more sustained assault on the Gaza Strip, it was reported that leaders of militant groups in Gaza were in Cairo to discuss a ceasefire which, if agreed, would be put into effect on Sunday night.
At an emergency meeting of the parliamentary foreign affairs and defence committee, its chairman, Shaul Mofaz, said: "Israel must decide: will we continue with this intolerable reality of a war of attrition or will we strive for an unequivocal decision with regards to Hamas, including targeting its leaders and infrastructure with the aim of toppling its reign in Gaza."
Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai, a military spokesman, said Israel had not finished its operations in Gaza and would not hesitate to widen it if necessary. "We will see how things develop on the ground," he told Israel Radio.
The Egyptian government is thought to be actively seeking an end to the attacks and counter-attacks. Yaser Otham, the Egyptian representative to the Palestinian Authority, told Voice of Palestine radio that Cairo was "in contact with all parties to restore the truce in Gaza". Hamas has maintained a de facto ceasefire since the end of the war in January 2009.
Israel does not want to further inflame tensions with Egypt, one of its few allies in the region. Egypt demanded an apology and investigation into the deaths of five Egyptian policemen during a battle between Israeli forces and militants along the border last Thursday.
Cairo said a statement of regret issued by Israel's defence minister, Ehud Barak, on Saturday was insufficient. "Although the Israeli statement is seemingly positive, it is not on a par with the gravity of the incident and the Egyptians' anger at the Israeli acts," the Egyptian cabinet said in a statement.
Since the fall of Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak, considered a staunch ally, Israel has been concerned about the future of its peace agreement with its neighbour. Protesters outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo over the weekend, shouting "Death to Israel" and waving Palestinian flags, have further unsettled Israel.
The Israeli government sought to link the cross-border attack on Thursday, in which eight Israelis were killed and which it blamed on Gaza militants, to the Palestinians' bid for statehood at the United Nations next month, which it opposes.
"The Palestinian leadership's failure to condemn Thursday's bloody attack raised serious questions as to their readiness for statehood and their commitment to fighting terrorism," said Mark Regev, the prime minister's spokesman.
A high school in the southern city of Be'er Sheva was struck by a Grad missile on Sunday morning, damaging a toilet block. None of the school's 700 pupils were present because of the summer holidays.
World news | The Guardian
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