REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, GAZA/JERUSALEM - Israeli fire killed at least 43 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip early on Wednesday as the state said it targeted dozens of sites across the coastal enclave, while Egyptian mediators prepared a revised ceasefire proposal.
Hospital officials put the total number of Palestinians killed in the conflict at 1,224, most of them civilians. On the Israeli side, 53 soldiers and three civilians have been killed since the start of the offensive on July 8.
Israeli tank shells and air strikes on houses and a school in Jebalya in northern Gaza killed at least 43 people and wounded many others, including 20 in a UN school, health ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra said. Among the dead were a medic and an infant. An Israeli army spokeswoman said she was checking for details. Eight people, including five members of the same family in Jebalya, were killed in other strikes, Gaza officials said.
Israel launched its offensive in response to rocket salvoes fired by Gaza's dominant Hamas Islamists and their allies.
UNRWA, the main UN relief agency in Gaza, said it was at "breaking point" with more than 200,000 Palestinians having taken shelter in its schools and buildings following calls by Israel for civilians to evacuate whole neighbourhoods before military operations.
The agency acknowledged that it had found a cache of rockets in one school. but blamed no particular party. The body's spokesman, Chris Gunness, condemned those responsible for placing people in harm's way.
"We condemn the group or groups who endangered civilians by placing these munitions in our school. This is yet another flagrant violation of the neutrality of our premises. We call on all the warring parties to respect the inviolability of UN property." Gunness said in a statement.
The Israeli assault intensified after the deaths of 10 soldiers in Palestinian cross-border attacks on Monday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of a long conflict ahead.
Diplomatic pressure also mounted, with Chile and Peru saying they were recalling their ambassadors to Israel. Chile, a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, is home to one of the world's largest Palestinian communities outside the Middle East, as well as a sizeable Jewish community.
"Chile observes with great concern and discouragement that the military operations - which at this point appear to be a collective punishment to the Palestinian civil population in Gaza - don't respect fundamental norms of international humanitarian law," its foreign ministry said.
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