Israel renews firing, 10 killed in attack on UN school in Gaza

Zee Media Bureau/Supriya Jha

As per an estimate by the Gaza`s health ministry, some 1,740 Palestinians have been killed and 9,080 injured since the conflict began.

Despite immense flak drawn by Israeli Army over attack on a UN-run school in Gaza last week, another UN school in southern Gaza is said to have been hit by a missile, killing ten and injuring 30 in the town of Rafah, the Reuters reported.

An Israeli Army offcial has said that some of the troops were being removed from Gaza Strip and others were being redeployed in what he called "an ongoing mission", the AFP reported.

"We are removing some (forces), we are changing from within," the AFP quoted Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner as saying.

"We are redeploying within the Gaza Strip and taking out other different positions, and relieving other forces from within," he said.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has expressed concern at the "intolerable" situation in Gaza sayin it might result in "an endless loop of violence".

"It`s a broad swathe of British public opinion that feels deeply, deeply disturbed by what it is seeing on its television screens coming out of Gaza," he told the Sunday Telegraph.

"The British public has a strong sense that the situation of the civilian population in Gaza is simply intolerable and must be addressed - and we agree with them."

Israeli defense forces say that Hamas terrorists have fired 3,127 rockets at Israel since July 8, adding "each of those rockets was launched to kill".

As the cross-border fire continues with the death toll shooting past 1700, the number of displaced is also rising phenomenally. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency says that now almost 1/4th of Gaza`s population, that is, 4,60,000 people are displaced.

#Gaza: It is estimated that 1/4 of Gaza's population - 460,000 people – are now displaced. pic.twitter.com/AoI8UnoIwD

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 2, 2014

UNWRA official Chris Gunness has warned against a "health disaster of widespread proportions that is rapidly unfolding" in Gaza after three weeks of conflict.

In #Gaza, the lack of adequate water and sanitation, poses serious risks of outbreak of water-borne and communicable diseases RT

— Chris Gunness (@ChrisGunness) August 2, 2014

Netanyahu added that the Islamist group Hamas would pay an "intolerable price" for attacks on Israel.

Speaking on Saturday evening, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said that the IDF will not stop its operation in Gaza even after the tunnels` network was destroyed.

"After completing the anti-tunnel operation, the IDF will act and continue to act, in accordance with our security needs and only according to our defence needs, until we achieve our objective of restoring security to you, Israel`s citizens," he said according to the Reuters.

Israeli Army on early Sunday morning stated that the 23-year old IDF officer Lieutenant Hadar Goldin of Givati Brigade, who was thought to have been kidnapped by Hamas militants was killed in a combat operation in Gaza.

A special IDF committee has concluded that Lt. Hadar Goldin was killed in combat in Gaza on Friday. May his memory be a blessing.

— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) August 2, 2014

Israel began its Operation Protective Edge on July 8, launching air and naval offensive in Gaza to halt Hamas from firing rockets towards the Jewish state. After 10 days, Israel launched ground operation too, determined to exterminate underground tunnels.

Despite repeated calls from the UN and the US, the ceasefire efforts have collapsed with the IDF accusing the Hamas of disrupting the truce every-time.

The death toll in Gaza has reached a whopping figure of 1675 and Israel too has lost 63 of its soldiers in 26-days of conflict.

Most of those dead in Gaza are said to be civilians.

The latest bout of conflict between the two sides is thought to have been triggered by the abduction and kidnapping of three Israeli teens, after which a Palestinian teenager was killed in revenge.

The death of the Palestinian sparked a lot of protests and an increased salvo of firing from Hamas, triggering the Israeli operation.