Tunnels razed as Gaza death toll climbs to 342

Palestinian relatives mourn for Qasim Alwan, 4, and Imad Alwan, 6, who were killed Friday by an Israeli tank shell, during their funeral in Gaza City, Saturday, July 19, 2014. Relatives say the tank shell kit the Alwan family's kitchen, killing Qasim and Imad. Rizk Hayek, 1, who lived nearby, was killed by shrapnel. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
Palestinian relatives mourn for Qasim Alwan, 4, and Imad Alwan, 6, who were killed Friday by an Israeli tank shell, during their funeral in Gaza City, Saturday, July 19, 2014. Relatives say the tank shell kit the Alwan family's kitchen, killing Qasim and Imad. Rizk Hayek, 1, who lived nearby, was killed by shrapnel. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Israeli bulldozers demolished more than a dozen tunnels Saturday in the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian authorities reported intensified airstrikes and shelling as the death toll from Israel's offensive rose to at least 342 Palestinians, and as diplomats struggled to revive a cease-fire.

Israeli soldiers uncovered 34 shafts leading into the underground tunnels, some nearly 100 feet deep, that could be used to carry out attacks, the military said.

Still, Palestinian gunmen disguised in Israeli uniforms emerged from a tunnel about 300 yards inside Israel, surprising an Israeli border patrol with a rocket-propelled grenade. The ensuing gunbattle left two Israeli soldiers and one militant dead before the Palestinians retreated underground.

Hamas said 12 of its fighters participated in the attack and that the group took some of the soldiers' weapons back to their hideouts.

In two other confrontations, Palestinian gunmen jumped out of tunnels and shot at soldiers who returned fire. Two of the gunmen were killed. Another militant died when the explosive vest he was wearing went off, the military said.

In one instance, the militants were found with tranquilizers and handcuffs, indicating they "intended to abduct Israelis," according to the military.

The fighting came as Israeli officials revealed that the tunnel network was far more extensive than had been publicly known, with 13 tunnels discovered and now under Israeli control. Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a military spokesman, said those tunnels spanned the periphery of Gaza and that he believed there were "tens" more.

Israel embarked on its ground offensive Thursday in part to seek and destroy the tunnels. That same day, 13 heavily armed Palestinians sneaked through a tunnel from Gaza and emerged inside Israel near a southern community. The militants were killed by an airstrike after they popped out of the tunnel.

Clashes persisted into late Saturday, with heavy fighting reported in several parts of Gaza.

Shimon Daniel, a retired brigadier general and former head of the Israeli military's engineer corps, said the military knew that Hamas had a large number of tunnels designed to assault Israel.

"I think finding 13 tunnels in such a short time is a great achievement," he told Channel 10 TV.

He said demolishing the tunnels is dangerous. Troops must assume the passages are booby-trapped. Soldiers first close off the area and check for additional openings. Then robots go inside to look around, he said.

After that, the tunnels are destroyed either by special explosives or by heavy equipment. He said it can take up to 12 hours to destroy each tunnel.

"These tunnels aren't for hiding. They are intended for large attacks in Israeli communities and army bases," chief military spokesman Brig. Gen. Moti Almoz said.

Footage released by the Israeli military showed tunnels being demolished by army excavators and other equipment on the ground and by airstrikes from above.

Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Kidra said the new round of airstrikes raised the death toll from the 12-day offensive to at least 342 Palestinians, many of them civilians.

In Israel, a rocket fired from Gaza killed a 32-year-old man near the southern city of Dimona and wounded four members of his family, including a 3-month-old girl who was critically hurt, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. He was the first Israeli civilian killed by a Hamas-fired rocket, most of which are intercepted by defense systems or fall in open fields. Another Israeli was killed last week by a mortar shell near the Gaza border.

A total of five Israelis -- soldiers and civilians -- have been killed since the fighting began.

Thousands flee Gaza

Although the Israeli government has said the ground campaign will be limited and aimed only at the tunnels, the growing intensity of the battles that are pushing deeper into civilian areas suggested that the fighting could grow far worse.

Already, tens of thousands have been forced to flee.

About 50,000 Palestinians are already staying in United Nations shelters, said Christopher Gunness, a spokesman for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, a refugee group for Palestinians.

"The number of displaced Palestinians seeking shelter in UNRWA schools in Gaza doubled in the last 36 hours and now stands at over 50,000," he said. "This is the same level as during the Gaza conflict in 2008-09. It is rising."

The Israeli military planned to distribute more leaflets Saturday advising residents of Khan Younis and the nearby refugee camps -- extremely crowded areas -- to evacuate, Lerner said.

"The alternative is that they stay put, and that is more dangerous to them, and that's why we advise them to leave the area and take refuge, at least temporarily," he said. "We are directing them toward safer zones, safer areas, away from the areas where we plan to operate."

But many Gaza residents said they are unsure where to go because shelling from fighter jets and drones may strike anywhere.

Early Saturday, Israeli tank fire killed at least five members of a family at their home in Beit Lahiya, including two children. In a separate attack, tank shell fire killed three members of a family in their home, among them two children.

In Gaza City, two boys and a 1-year-old infant neighbor were killed Friday evening after the break of the Ramadan fast. On Saturday, at least two of the bodies were carried by somber relatives during a funeral procession in Gaza City.

In Khan Younis, in central Gaza, seven people were killed, mostly men, and others were wounded when a drone strike hit a group of people in the middle of the city, the Health Ministry said.

Israel said it is going to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties and blames them on Hamas, accusing it of firing from within residential neighborhoods and using civilians as "human shields."

The military said it has hit more than 2,500 targets in Gaza, including 1,100 rocket launchers, during the 12 days of fighting. It said about 70 militants were killed and another 13 taken to Israel for questioning.

Gaza militants have fired more than 1,760 rockets at Israeli cities since July 8, the military said.

The military also said it had received intelligence reports that Palestinians had strapped explosives to animals and intended to send them toward soldiers. A donkey laden with explosives approached soldiers later and blew up, causing no injuries, it said.

An Egyptian truce proposal was rejected by Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007 and has demanded the lifting of an Israeli and Egyptian blockade as part of any cease-fire agreement.

Israel's ground attack came after increasing rocket fire from Gaza, especially after Hamas rejected an Egyptian cease-fire plan last week.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri on Saturday repeated a call for the two sides to adopt the cease-fire, saying it is the only offer on the table, despite efforts from Hamas backers Turkey and Qatar to broker a deal.

"It meets the needs of both sides," he said. "We will continue to propose it. We hope both sides accept it."

Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Israel of "barbarism that surpasses Hitler."

Erdogan made the comment during a speech Saturday in the Black Sea port city of Ordu. He previously has spoken about Israel using disproportionate force and has said the operation there has derailed efforts to normalize Turkish-Israeli ties. Those soured after Israel's 2010 raid on an aid ship, which killed eight Turks and a Turkish-American.

His speech reflected the protests staged in recent days by hundreds in Turkey outside Israeli diplomatic missions in Ankara and Istanbul.

But in a fresh effort to broker a truce, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon was to leave Saturday for the Middle East to help mediate the Gaza conflict.

Israeli officials have said the offensive could last up to two weeks or possibly longer.

Also on Saturday, Egypt opened its border crossing with Gaza, admitting wounded to Egyptian hospitals and allowing aid and doctors back in.

Hamas has survived Israeli offensives in the past, including a three-week ground operation in January 2009 and another week-long air offensive in 2012. It now controls an arsenal of thousands of rockets, including long-range projectiles, and has built a system of underground bunkers.

Information for this article was contributed by Ibrahim Barzak, Ian Deitch, Aron Heller, Yousur Alhlou, Sarah El Deeb and Lefteris Pitarakis of The Associated Press and by Anne Barnard, Jodi Rudoren, Fares Akram, Tyler Hicks and Carol Sutherland of The New York Times.

A Section on 07/20/2014

Upcoming Events