Gaza fighting raged on Wednesday, displacing thousands more Palestinians in the battered

territory as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said efforts to secure a truce between srael
and !amas had made some progress.
n a blow to srael"s economy and image, #merican a$iation authorities e%tended a ban on
U.S. flights to &el #$i$ for a second day, spoo'ed by roc'et sal$oes out of the Gaza Strip,
with many other global airlines also a$oiding the Jewish state.
!amas leader Khaled (eshaal, spea'ing in )atar, praised the group"s fighters, whom he
said had made gains against srael and said he supported a humanitarian truce but a
ceasefire would only be acceptable in e%change for easing Gazans" plight.
*+et"s agree first on the demands and on implementing them and then we can agree on the
zero hour for a ceasefire... We will not accept any proposal that does not lift the bloc'ade...
We do not desire war and we do not want it to continue but we will not be bro'en by it,* he
said.
#dding to the pressure on srael, U.,. !igh -ommissioner for !uman .ights ,a$i Pillay
said there was *a strong possibility* that it was committing war crimes in Gaza, where /01
Palestinians, mostly ci$ilians, ha$e died in the fighting.
She also condemned indiscriminate slamist roc'et fire out of Gaza and the United ,ations
!uman .ights -ouncil said it would launch an international in2uiry into alleged $iolations.
srael denied any wrongdoing. *Get lost,* Justice (inister &zipi +i$ni said on her 3aceboo'
page in response to the in$estigation.
Kerry met Palestinian President (ahmoud #bbas, U.,. Secretary General 4an Ki5moon and
a grim5faced ,etanyahu on Wednesday. !e was due to return later in the day to 6gypt,
which shares a border with Gaza and has mediated with slamist !amas.
*We ha$e certainly made some steps forward. &here is still wor' to be done,* said Kerry, on
one of his most intensi$e regional $isits since the peace negotiations he had bro'ered
between ,etanyahu and #bbas bro'e down in #pril.
Kerry has been wor'ing through #bbas, 6gypt and other regional pro%ies because the
United States, li'e srael, shuns !amas as a terrorist group. !amas brushed off the U.S.
diplomat"s appeal, saying it would not hold fire without ma'ing gains.
*7ur interest and that of our people is that no agreement should be made before the
conditions of factions of resistance are met,* !amas spo'esman Sami #bu 8uhri said.
srael launched its offensi$e on July 0 to halt roc'et sal$oes by !amas and its allies, which
ha$e struggled under an sraeli56gyptian economic bloc'ade on Gaza and angered by a
crac'down on their supporters in the nearby occupied West 4an'.
#fter aerial and na$al bombardment failed to 2uell the outgunned guerrillas, srael poured
ground forces into the Gaza Strip last &hursday, loo'ing to 'noc' out !amas"s roc'et stores
and destroy a $ast, underground networ' of tunnels.
*We are meeting resistance around the tunnels ... they are constantly trying to attac' us
around and in the tunnels. &hat is the trend,* sraeli military spo'esman +ieutenant5
-olonel Peter +erner said on Wednesday.
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srael announced that three of its soldiers were 'illed by e%plosi$e de$ices on Wednesday,
lifting the army death toll to :;. &hree ci$ilians ha$e also been 'illed in roc'et attac's out of
Gaza, including a &hai laborer hit on Wednesday.
&he military says one of its soldiers is also missing and belie$es he might be dead. !amas
says it has captured him, but has not released a picture of him in their hands.
#lready hurt by mass tourist cancellations, srael faced increased economic pressure after
the U.S. 3ederal #$iation #dministration <3##= too' the rare step on &uesday of banning
flights to &el #$i$, renewing the order on Wednesday.
(any other foreign carriers, on heightened alert after a (alaysian airliner was shot down
o$er a combat zone in U'raine last wee', followed suit. sraeli carriers continued to operate.
*!amas"s success in closing the sraeli air space is a great $ictory for the resistance, a
terrible failure for srael that wrec's the image of sraeli deterrence,* said !amas"s #bu
8uhri.
&he &el #$i$ stoc' e%change and She'el were flat, with traders showing little concern about
the flight stoppages.
-louds of blac' smo'e hung o$er Gaza, some /> 'm <?@ miles= south of 4en Gurion, with
the regular thud of artillery and tan' shells filling the air, sending thousands of ci$ilians
fleeing from the town of 4eit !anoun in the northern Gaza Strip.
*&his is not war, this is annihilation,* said A15year5old !amed #yman. * once dreamt of
becoming a doctor. &oday am homeless. &hey should watch out for what could become
ne%t.*
Palestinian medics said two worshippers were 'illed and :@ wounded in an attac' on a
mos2ue in the heart of the densely populated 8eitoun neighborhood in eastern Gaza -ity.
# Palestinian protester died after a confrontation with sraeli forces in the West 4an'.
#nd in southern #bassan and Khuzaa $illages, residents said they were besieged by sraeli
snipers who wounded two Palestinians as they tried to emerge from hiding with white flags
in hand.
&he sraeli army also seized Wafa hospital in eastern Gaza, saying it had been used to
shelter !amas fighters 5 a regular complaint from the military. Patients were remo$ed
ahead of time after recei$ing warnings of the pending assault.
srael named four commanders of !amas ally the slamic Jihad, that it said it had 'illed in
recent days.
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6gypt has tried to get both sides to hold fire and then negotiate terms for protracted calm in
Gaza, which has been roc'ed by regular bouts of $iolence since srael unilaterally pulled out
of the territory in ;@@>.
!amas, which refuses to recognize srael"s right to e%ist, has bal'ed at -airo"s original
proposal, wanting its conditions to be met in full before any end to the conflict.
&hese demands include the release of hundreds of !amas supporters recently arrested in
the nearby West 4an' and an end to the 6gyptian5sraeli bloc'ade of Gaza, which has
stymied the economy and made it near impossible for anyone to tra$el abroad.
&he war is e%tracting a hea$y toll on impo$erished Gaza, with Palestinian officials saying
that at least ?1> houses had been totally destroyed by sraeli fire and ;,/?? partially
damaged. Some ?/ schools, >/ mos2ues and se$en hospitals had also suffered $arying
degrees of destruction.
*&here seems to be a strong possibility that international humanitarian law has been
$iolated, in a manner that could amount to war crimes,* the U.,."s Pillay told an emergency
session at the U, !uman .ights -ouncil <!.-= in Gene$a.
,etanyahu reacted furiously to news of the planned U.,. in$estigation, aware of the
damning report into srael"s ;@@0C@D Gaza operation, which 'illed more than A,@@@
Palestinians.
*&he decision today by the !.- is a tra$esty,* he said in a statement. *&he !.- should be
launching an in$estigation into !amas"s decision to turn hospitals into military command
centers, use schools as weapons depots and place missile batteries ne%t to playgrounds,
pri$ate homes and mos2ues.*