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Gaza operation to continue: Israel PM

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday said his country’s military will continue its operation against Palestinian militants in Gaza, with little sign of a breakthrough in talks to reach a ceasefire.

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday said his country’s military will continue its operation against Palestinian militants in Gaza, with little sign of a breakthrough in talks to reach a ceasefire.

Hamas vowed on Wednesday to keep fighting until Israel’s blockade on Gaza is lifted, with the Islamist group’s leader, Mr Khaled Mashaal, asking Palestinians for “more patience” after the death toll in the territory rose above 700, including hundreds of civilians.

“We are doing our best to minimise civilian casualties, but we cannot give our attackers immunity,” Mr Netanyahu said at a meeting yesterday in Jerusalem with British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond, repeating Israel’s charge that Hamas is using Gaza’s residents as “human shields”.

Israel will carry on with its ground incursion into Gaza aimed at destroying Hamas’ rocket arsenal and infiltration tunnels, Mr Netanyahu said.

United States Secretary of State John Kerry was yesterday in Cairo in pursuit of truce negotiations in which Egypt, the traditional mediator of Gaza conflicts, has also been involved. Mr Kerry spoke yesterday with a number of regional leaders, including Mr Netanyahu, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid Bin Mohamed Al Attiyah, said a State Department official.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) yesterday lifted a ban on flights to Tel Aviv by American carriers it instituted two days ago after one Gaza rocket landed near Israel’s main international airport.

The FAA cited new measures taken to “mitigate risks to civil aviation” for its decision to revoke the first suspension on flights to Israel since the 1991 Gulf War.

Efforts to end the third major round of violence between Israel and Gaza since 2009 have been complicated by hostility between Hamas and Egypt, whose new government has cracked down domestically on Islamists.

Hamas spurned a truce proposal last week after Israel accepted it, saying the plan did not guarantee lifting the blockade on the Gaza Strip.

Israel and Egypt have tightly controlled Gaza’s borders since 2006, citing security concerns.

The embargo has battered Gaza’s economy and confined the territory’s 1.8 million people to a 363 sq km patch of land.

“We are greatly concerned by the ongoing heavy level of civilian casualties,” Mr Hammond said. “We welcomed the earlier ceasefire proposal by Egypt,” and were “greatly disappointed” by Hamas rejecting it, the UK Foreign Minister said.

The United Nations Human Rights Council on Wednesday voted to investigate allegations of Israeli war crimes. Israel, the US and European Union consider Hamas a terrorist group.

Palestinian health officials put the latest death toll at 737, with more than 4,500 injured. Israel’s army says at least 32 soldiers have been killed and one is missing in action, and two civilians have died in rocket attacks.

More than 2,250 rockets have been fired at Israel since July 8, including at least 10 yesterday, the army said, with most intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile defence system or landing in open areas.

Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon, while visiting troops on the Gaza border on Wednesday, said the Israeli army is “preparing for the next stages of battle once the tunnels have been taken care of”.

Hamas leader Mashaal, who spoke at a press conference in Qatar, said the group would not disarm or settle for any accord short of the lifting of the embargo on Gaza.

He said Hamas’ fighters have “destroyed the idea that the Israeli army is invincible”. BLOOMBERG

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