Israeli airstrike levels Gaza apartment block

Israeli strikes on Gaza continue to level buildings with 10 new deaths reported.

Palestinians react after a building was destroyed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City on August 23, 2014. Israel said it had carried out 55 air strikes over the Gaza Strip on August 23 and that around 45 rockets and mortar rounds hit Israel, with anothe

Palestinians react after a building was destroyed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City on August 23, 2014. (Getty)

Israel has pounded Gaza with scores of air strikes, killing 10 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and bringing down an 12-storey apartment building as Egypt called for new truce talks.

Since a previous round of frantic Egyptian diplomacy collapsed last Tuesday, shattering nine days of calm, 86 Palestinians and a four-year-old Israeli boy have been killed in the violence.

Israel on Saturday sent text messages, voice mails and leaflets warning Palestinians that "every house from which militant activity is carried out, will be targeted" and to stay away from "terrorists".

Israel has vowed no let-up until it can guarantee the safety of its civilians, while Hamas insists that Israel must end its eight-year blockade of the territory as part of any truce.

At least 2103 Palestinians and 68 people on the Israeli side, all but four of them soldiers, have been killed since July 8. The UN says 70 per cent of the Palestinians who have died were civilians.

Israel said it had carried out 55 air strikes over Gaza on Saturday and that around 64 rockets and mortar rounds from Gaza hit Israel, with another 14 intercepted, including one over Tel Aviv.

An Israeli air strike levelled an apartment building in the heart of Gaza City late Saturday, wounding at least 18 people, 10 of them children, emergency services said.

Residents in the 11-storey building were called 10 minutes before the attack and told to evacuate, after which at least two missiles slammed into the complex, levelling it totally, witnesses said.

An Israeli army spokeswoman told AFP a Hamas military operations room had been located in the building.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world