Casualties mounting as Gaza conflict escalates

Medical officials in Gaza said at least 60 civilians have died in the campaign of airstrikes and rocket fire from Israel.

The Israeli Defence Forces have not yet commented on the alleged family death in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Israeli army tanks were seen moving near the Gaza border on Thursday, as Israel pressed on with its bombing against Gaza for a third day.

Israeli authorities said the offensive is intended to stop rocket fire at its cities from the Gaza Strip. More than 200 rockets have been fired during the campaign, striking deep into the country’s heartland, it said.

The air strikes on Gaza killed eight members of the same family including five children in a predawn strike near the southern town of Khan Younis, said Palestinian officials, in the single deadliest bombing raid since bombing began. Another nine people died in a cafe in the same town.

In 30 seconds, you will have 10 or 12 attacks Khaled Abu Ghali, journalist in Rafah, Gaza (see below)

An Israeli military spokesman said the deaths were “a tragedy” adding they were “not what we intended” and said the deceased had returned to the house too soon after a telephone warning.

The IDF has said it is targeting homes – but only when they are being used for military purposes. Hamas says it is civilians who are being killed in strikes on residential areas.

It’s true: We strike houses in Gaza that are used for military purposes. http://t.co/ZzLEh2cBsi

— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) July 10, 2014

Israel says it has targeted 750 sites in Gaza in an offensive designed to stop Hamas firing rockets into Israel – but also following the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers that led to public outrage. Arab protests were later sparked in Israel following the killing of a Palestinian teenager.

The IDF also says that Hamas has fired 365 rockets into Israel over the past three days – but there have been no Israeli fatalities or serious injuries, partly due to the Iron Dome missile defence system.

The UN Security Council is due to meet for emergency talks on the crisis on Thursday, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that the situation in Gaza is “on a knife-edge”.

The rockets fired into Israel have caused no serious casualties, but the barrages have paralysed business in southern communities and sent hundreds of thousands of people scrambling for shelter as far north as the Israeli business hub of Tel Aviv and beyond.

Palestinians said that Israel has targeted more than 70 homes in its offensive. The Israeli military said on Wednesday it had bombed 550 Hamas sites, including 60 rocket launchers and 11 homes of senior Hamas members. It described those dwellings as command centres

On the ground as Israel bombs Gaza: Khaled Abu Ghali, a journalist living in Rafah, Gaza, tells Channel 4 News that the recent bombing is the worst he has ever experienced, with 10 or 12 strikes every 30 seconds at the most intense.