Amazon Fashion Style

Amazon Fashion Style   

Amazon Fashion debuts its first TV commercial Monday, joining the growing ranks of startup e-commerce businesses (Fab.com, Warby Parker, One Kings Lane) to turn to TV to bring in new customers. The 30-second spot can be viewed on Amazon.com.

Amazon, of course, is no startup — but its Fashion division is a fledgling business of sorts. The retailer has had its foot in apparel and accessories sales since acquiring Shopbop in 2006, expanding its footprint, so to speak, with the acquisition of Zappos in 2009 and Gilt competitor MyHabit in 2011. (In late 2006 it launched its own shoes and accessories ecommerce venture, Endless.com, which closed last fall.) But it was only in mid-2012 that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said the company was ready to make a "significant" investment in the category under its own name, Amazon Fashion, signing a lease on a 40,000-square-foot space in Brooklyn to serve as a photo studio later in the year.

The spot is part of an awareness-building campaign that spans TV, print, outdoor and online display, Amazon Fashion President Cathy Beaudoin told WWD. (According to her PR agency, Beaudoin was unavailable for a phone interview with Mashable on Monday.) It was simply done: Three female models, adorned in a rotating ensemble of bright spring dresses paired with metallic heels, dance, skateboard and hula-hoop around Amazon's six letters alongside one well-tailored male model. It closes with the tagline "Amazon Fashion: Smart is Beautiful."

In an interview with The New York Times last May, Bezos said Amazon Fashion would sell clothes are prices that ensure that "the designer brands are happy." Indeed, the vast majority of spring dresses Amazon currently has on offer, including a $99 Anne Klein shirtdress in hot pink, and a $398 yellow floral number from Tracey Reese (both featured in the commercial), are being offered at no discount whatsoever.

Perhaps more competitive pricing will come later. For now, Amazon Fashion simply wants you to know it exists.

Anything that is really popular in city or country is actually fashion. Fashion trend and fashion wear is actually something which is very popular in your country.

A famous style, trend in dresses, jewellery, sandals, and hair wears etc…. This is all about fashion. Fashion trend and fashion wear completely depends on what actually suits you and not what you want to follow. It may be possible that a black color skirt will suit you more than green color top. But fashion trend is offering you green color so definitely you will go with green.

Actually this is wrong. Fashion is not actually what fashion trend is offering you but it is all about what suits you. You may become a matter of laughter for others in the case green color doesn’t suits you inspite of the fact fashion trend is of green color. But your fashion wear color is black because black suits you because you are slim, your height is 5+ and your complexion is good that goes well with black.

So here it would be a big mistake to go with the color that doesn’t even support your personality.

Similarly if you are going in a casual get together. Here you know that your personality type is not funky and you are very good observer of things around. So here you have to match up your fashion wear with your personality. You can wear normal jeans and shirt. If you are good than this is your current fashion and every simplest thing will suit you and automatically it will become your fashion wear.

Here, people will start getting inspiration from you. There is a famous saying “If your thoughts are good whatever you wear it will suits you”. By keeping this in mind you can easily decide your fashion wear which will automatically be right according to the fashion trend.

You summer wardrobe should be right according to the fashion wear. According to the fashion trend and fashion wear summer fashion trend is pretty light as compare to other season wears.

You need to stay cool with your fashion wear actually. There is no comparison of you and others actually and if you know this fact so here “You are above all”. And you can see the depth of fashion. You will unintentionally be creating your own fashion trend. People will start following you. Your fashion wear wardrobe would be simple and light according to the summer but you will be watching that people have started following you now.

There wardrobe is quite similar of what you wear actually in summer. This is the time you have conquered summer fashion market.

Imran Khan approves 25 PTI workers

Imran Khan approves 25 PTI workers to access main stage

SARGODHA (Dunya News) – Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan, today, has approved 25 names for the people who would have access to the central stage after which 25 passed have been issued for the stage.

Nobody would be allowed entry to the central stage without a pass. The people who have been allowed admittance include vice chairman PTI Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Saifullah Niazi, Ijaz Chaudhry, Mehmood ur Rasheed, Yasmeen Rasid, Andaleeb Abbas, Sheikh Rasheed, Attaullah Esakhelvi and Faisal Javed.

Hina Manzoor, Sadaqat Abbasi, Mumtaz Akhter, Ansar Majeed, Ansar Iqbal Haral, Colonel (r) Ejaz Minhas, Hassan Paracha, Nazeer Ahmad Bhooli, Asghar Lehri, Iftikhar Gondal and Ali Asif Bagga are also among the workers who have been given the permit.

Imran Khan’s personal guard Ayub, Youth leader Ali Awan and Captain (r) Hassan have also been granted access to the central stage.

Participants, on the other hand, have started arriving for the rally organized.

Workers including women are coming to participate in the rally in large numbers whereas the security measures for the event are being handled by PTI workers including 100 PTI women activists.

Earlier, PTI had been all geared up to amp up the political heat through a massive showing in Sargodha on Friday.

The PTI will hold a mass political rally at a stadium in Sargodha even after tragedy of stampede occurred in Multan Stadium.

However, the administration is more careful for Friday show after Multan tragedy which left seven people dead and 40 others injured.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Thursday demolished the wall and ticket collection booth of Sargodha stadium for holding its public rally.

The reason for bringing down the wall and ticket collection booth of the stadium was said to be the small size of the gate through which the container for building the stage could not be brought inside the venue.

The above action caused a severe damage to 32 sq ft area of Sargodha stadium.

Sargodha Administration explained that the local leadership of PTI has assured to rebuild the demolished ticket collection booth and wall of the stadium after its rally.

It is not out of place to note that seven people had been killed and dozens others injured in PTI’s previous public rally in Multan following a stampede.

The PTI’s stage in Sargodha will be almost 40 feet high. The PTI activists are exerting their maximum to fill the stadium beyond its capacity. Imran Khan and other leaders would address to the gathering.

No show: Imran Khan skips resignation scrutiny

ISLAMABAD: 

As expected, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Monday did not appear before the National Assembly speaker for verification of his resignation from the lower house.

Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq had invited PTI lawmakers in small groups to verify whether or not they had submitted their resignations voluntarily.

The process of verification began on September 25 and is expected to end on October 15. However, none of the PTI members has appeared before the speaker so far as the party demands that the speaker should invite all its lawmakers on the same day.

On August 22, some 31 members of the PTI had submitted their resignations in the speaker’s office as a protest against alleged rigging in the May 2013 general elections.

Up to 26 resignations were found valid while five of them – submitted by Mujahid Ali, Colonel (retd) Ameer Marwat, Saleemur Rehman, Junaid Akbar and Qaiser Jamal – were declared invalid as they were addressed to the PTI chairman – rather than the NA speaker.

Three PTI members, including Gulzar Khan from NA-4 Peshawar, Nasir Khattak from NA-15 Karak and Musarrat Ahmedzeb on women’s reserved seat, had not submitted their resignations. The only resignation accepted so far is that of the party’s former president Javed Hashmi.

Talking to media at the Parliament House, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq said the PTI was trying to find excuses to delay the issue of resignations.  “My doors are open to them, even if they want to coming holding each other’s hand,” he said.

Imran’s address

Addressing his supporters at D-Chowk, Imran Khan said local government elections would soon be held in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), adding that it would be for the first time that people of villages would be empowered.

“We will also improve the sewerage system in the entire country. We will ask the youth to clean Pakistan and the government will clean rivers and plant new trees,” he added.

Talking about the recently held joint session of the parliament, he said no one had uttered a single word on the issues of the masses. He said there was no need for metro bus projects in Islamabad and the money could have been spent on welfare of the masses.

“Nawaz Sharif knows that the moment he resigns, his corruption will be exposed,” he said while calling into question the justification of the ongoing development projects.

Claiming that both Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Peoples Party Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari had not disclosed their real assets, he said: “We will show you their declared assets [to the Election Commission of Pakistan] and the actual ones.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2014.

Dollar Falls as Report

Dollar Falls as Report Shows U.S. Jobs Growth Slowed

The dollar fell from a 14-month high after a report showed employers added the fewest jobs this year in August, damping speculation the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates sooner than anticipated.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index pared a weekly gain after Labor Department data showed
employment grew by 142,000 jobs, versus a Bloomberg survey forecast of 230,000. The yen gained from the weakest level in almost six years and the euro rose from almost a 14-month low. The currencies fell yesterday as the Bank of Japan maintained its unprecedented stimulus and the European Central Bank cut interest rates.

“The headline payrolls number wasn’t so strong, and I think you saw the dollar come off a bit on the back,” said Robert Lynch, a currency strategist at HSBC Holdings Plc in New York. For euro-dollar, “the ECB developments are still the more important factor.”

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell as much as 0.3 percent to 1,036.55 before trading at 1,038.18 at 5 p.m. in New York, down 0.1 percent. It advanced earlier to 1,041.58, the highest since July 2013. The gauge rose 0.9 percent this week.

The yen rose 0.2 percent to 105.09 per dollar after depreciating earlier to 105.71, the weakest since October 2008. The euro gained as much as 0.3 percent to $1.2988 before trading at $1.2951. It touched $1.2920 yesterday, the lowest level since July 2013.

Peso, Pound

The Chilean peso climbed the most among the U.S. dollar’s 31 major peers after data showed the nation’s economy grew more than forecast in July and wages rose at the fastest pace since 2009. The currency gained 1.2 percent to 586.40 per dollar.

Canada’s dollar weakened against most major counterparts after employment unexpectedly declined by 11,000 jobs in August. The currency slipped as much as 0.3 percent against the U.S. dollar to C$1.0903.

Sterling had the biggest weekly loss in more than a year before a vote on Scottish independence on Sept. 18. A win for nationalists seeking to leave the U.K. may prompt a pound selloff, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said this week. The currency dropped 1.6 percent from Aug. 29 to $1.6327. It was little changed on the day.

The euro fell yesterday when the ECB unexpectedly cut its main refinancing rate to a record and introduced additional stimulus. ECB President Mario Draghi is trying to stave off deflation as the euro region’s economy slumps.

Draghi pledged to “significantly steer” the central bank’s balance sheet back toward the 2.7 trillion euros ($3.5 billion) of early 2012 from 2 trillion euros. He announced a plan to buy securitized debt and covered bonds.

Net Shorts

Hedge funds and other large speculators increased bets on a decline in the euro against the dollar to the most since July 2012. The difference in the number of wagers on a drop compared with those on a gain -- so-called net shorts -- was 161,423 on Sept. 2, from 150,657 a week earlier, according to data from the Washington-based Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The yen slid yesterday after the Bank of Japan kept its monetary stimulus unchanged. Japanese policy makers maintained their pledge to increase the monetary base at an annual pace of 60 trillion yen ($570 billion) to 70 trillion yen

Japan’s currency fell 1 percent in the past month in a basket of 10 developed-nation currencies tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes. The euro dropped 1.9 percent, the worst performer after the pound, while the dollar strengthened 1.7 percent.

Lower Participation

U.S. payrolls growth was weaker than the lowest estimate in a Bloomberg survey and followed a revised 212,000-job gain in July, Labor Department figures showed in Washington. The labor-force participation rate, the share of Americans employed or looking for work, slipped to 62.8 percent in August from 62.9 percent a month earlier.

The unemployment rate fell to 6.1 percent from 6.2 percent in July, reflecting a drop in joblessness among teenagers.

Fed policy makers led by Chair Janet Yellen raised the possibility at a meeting in July that they might increase the benchmark interest-rate target sooner than they anticipated if labor-market gains quicken, according to minutes released on Aug. 20. The U.S. central bank meets Sept. 16-17.

The employment report “will probably come up for conversation at the next Fed meeting, but I can’t see this changing Yellen’s view in any way,” Douglas Borthwick, the head of foreign exchange at New York brokerage Chapdelaine & Co., said by phone. “The Fed continues to have this thought that they’ll be raising rates sooner than other countries.”

Interest Rates

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major counterparts, has rallied 3.5 percent this quarter as the Fed considers when to raise interest rates for the first time since 2006. The rate has been held in a range of zero to 0.25 percent since December 2008 to support the economy.

Futures trading showed a 52 percent likelihood of an increase to at least 0.5 percent by July 2015, versus a 56 percent chance yesterday.

“Things continue to be worse abroad -- in the euro zone, in Japan, in China, in much of the industrialized world,” Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at currency brokerage Commonwealth Foreign Exchange Inc. in Washington, said in a phone interview. “The U.S. appears to be the strongest of that group, and as such I think the dollar should continue longer-term to appreciate.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Rachel Evans in New York at revans43@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg.net Greg Storey

Islamabad News | Islamabad Clashes

Three killed, over 560 injured in Islamabad clashes

ISLAMABAD: The federal capital remains tense after violence broke out on Saturday night when supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri tried to storm PM House using crane’s to remove barricades.

Clashes between police and protesters in which three people were killed and over 560 injured continued on Sunday. 77 of those injured were security officials deployed in the Red Zone.

Protesters several of whom were armed with batons and slingshots started removing containers used as barricades which lead to the police using tear gas to force the crowds back. Authorities said they had no choice but to use force.

Shipping containers were set ablaze, several vehicles stood torched, and hundreds of tear gas canisters lay strewn on the ground on Islamabad's normally pristine Constitution Avenue. Protesters also attacked the Geo News office in Islamabad and a satellite van of the channel.

Scores of protesters carrying hammers and iron rods also broke down a fence outside of parliament late Saturday, enabling hundreds of people to enter the lawns and parking area. Acting IGP Islamabad Khalid Khattak said the protesters were armed with large hammers, wire cutters, axes and even a crane.

Police also beat local journalists covering the protests with batons, injuring some, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafiq said. Rafique said he intervened to stop the police assault and he would ask the government to investigate the officers' conduct.

Who is responsible for the violence in Islamabad

Imran Khan/Dr. Tahir-ul Qadri

Nawaz Sharif/Chaudhry Nisar

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Protests began with a march from Lahore on August 14 and reached Islamabad the next day. Despite calls by Khan and Qadri for millions to join, crowds never exceeding the tens of thousands. Both Khan and Qadri stayed overnight at the protests, spending most of their time in the containers.

 

The decision to march to the PM House was taken after talks between the government, PTI and PAT failed to end the deadlock over the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. PTI chairman Imran Khan has said that an independent probe of rigging in the 2013 general elections cannot be held if Nawaz Sharif remains prime minister. Khan has called for Nawaz Sharif to step down until the proposed judicial commission completes its probe. Government and the majority of opposition parties have dismissed Khan’s demand for the prime minister’s removal.

Joint session of Parliament on Tuesday
 

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting on Sunday during which it was decided that a joint session of Parliament would held on Tuesday. According to sources the meeting also took the decision to re-engage the PTI and PAT in talks.

 

Differences emerge in PTI

Following clashes in Islamabad, differences have emerged within the PTI. The party’s elected president Javed Hashmi said Imran Khan’s decision to march to the PM House was not that of the party’s. He claimed Imran had been prompted to take this decision after receiving a message from Sheikh Rasheed and Saifullah Niazi. Hashmi said Imran Khan would be to blame if democracy was derailed.

In response to Hashmi, Khan dismissed the elected PTI president announcing that ‘from today he had parted ways with him.’ The PTI chairman also announced that three party MNAs who had not submitted their resignations had also been expelled.

 

Army stresses political resolution to crisis

The Corps Commanders conference chaired by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif ended with the decision that “further use of force will only aggravate the problem”. The conference was originally planned to take place on Monday but due to the security situation in the Capital and the unrest in the country the meeting was held on Sunday.

 

According to a press release from the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) wing of the Pakistan Army, the conference “reviewed with serious concern, the existing political crisis and the violent turn it has taken, resulting in large scale injuries and loss of lives.” The meeting once again reiterated that the “situation should be resolved politically without wasting any time and without recourse to violent means.”

The ISPR statement ended on the note that the “army remains committed to playing its part in ensuring security of the state and will never fall short of meeting national aspirations.”

Pakistan Tour of Sri Lanka 2014

Watch Pakistan vs Sri Lanka Series Highlights Here

Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka 2014

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka Tour Details & Preview:

Pakistan are taking on Sri lanka in the first t20 match of the big series in UAE, they are scheduled to play 2 Twenty20 International matches, 5 One Day Matches and 3 Test matches starting from 11 december 2013 with a T20 game at Dubai. Its a very important series for both the sides going into very busy 2014 year for cricket and there is a T20 world cup as well to play. Pakistan and Sri lanka are highly rated in terms of T20 format and they will be fighting it out for the supermacy in the shorter format of the game.

There will be 5 One day mathes immediatly after the Twenty20 Format, and what we plan to do on this page is posting match highlights videos so once the first t20 is over you will have the highlights in 4 parts, which will be replaced with the 2nd T20 matches after the game and son. So this page is your source of match replays and highlights. You can bookmark this page as well as the live stremaing page where we will be posting Pakistan vs Sri Lanka Geo Super or PTV Sports coverage streams

Fixtures of Pakistan Tour of Sri Lanka 2014

Sat Aug 30

09:45 local | 04:15 GMT | 9:15 PKT

3rd ODI - Sri Lanka v Pakistan

      Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka schedule 2014 in Sri Lanka begins on Wednesday August 6, 2014 in Sri Lanka as per cricket schedule announced and ends on 30th August. Both teams play the first Test in Galle from August 6. The second Test will be played at P.Sara Oval in Colombo from August 14-18. The first one-day will be played in Hambantota on August 23 followed by a day-night encounters in Colombo on August 27, followed by the third and final ODI in Colombo on August 30. It is an international bilateral series organized by ICC based on FTP with Cricket boards of both countries. The tour is consisted of two Tests and three ODI matches to be hosted by Sri Lanka in the month of August. All 3 ODIs of Pakistan and Sri Lanka series have a reserve day in case of rain. Pakistan vs Sri Lanka 2014 fixtures and schedule list fixtures of all matches, dates, venues and timings of all matches in GMT, local and PKT timings (Pakistan local time).

Eng vs Ind, 2014

England v India 2nd ODI            :              Raina's blistering 75-ball 100

Suresh Raina hit a superb century as India cruised to victory against England by 133 runs in the second one-day international at Cardiff.

Sexy Models Fashion Show

Sexy Models Fashion Show

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show airs on tonight on CBS, and we're counting down the seconds until all the sexiness on the runway. Our favorite Angels will be out in full force, like Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, and Candice Swanepoel, who's wearing the coveted Fantasy Bra! So we've rounded up the sexiest moments in Victoria's Secret show history to get you excited for this year; take a look.

Click Hear

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT)

Firebrand Qadri tells supporters to move into Red Zone

Qadri announces to move sit-in towards Parliament House

August 19, 2014 - Updated 1845 PKT 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri announced the advance of the “peaceful” protest onto Constitution Avenue and in front of Parliament – right inside the Red Zone. He said the advance would begin as soon as permission was received from authorities.

“Promise no violence…no militancy,” Qadri appealed to his cheering crowd of supporters.

Delivering a speech to an enraptured audience, the PAT Chief justified moving into the Red Zone, narrating how both the PPP and PML-N had held protests in front of Parliament.

The speech was a combination of calls for "discipline" and calls for "vengeance".

Qadri claimed yet another PAT supporter had died in hospital today after being targeted in Gujranwala.

“If we don’t get revenge for their blood, would you like to return?” Qadri asked a highly charged crowd that yelled “No!”.

Qadri then asked the crowd whether they would prefer to protest in front of Parliament house in the Red Zone, to which his supporters yelled, “Yes!”.

“Should the government stay, or go?” asked the PAT chief, which was met with loud cries of “Go Nawaz go!”

The PAT Chief reiterated the standing demand for the arrest of the Sharif brothers for “murder, planning and involvement” in the Model Town tragedy.

Pushing the crowd into a frenzy, Qadri shot out question after question in hypnotic rhythm, slamming the government, the PML-N and the existing setup, as well as outlining the PAT ideological viewpoint.

“You don’t want to go back? Are you sure? You want a national government? You wan’t these rulers to go? Do you want accountability? Do you want to forgive them? Or arrest them? Do you want implementation of the 12 point agenda? Yes or no? Do you want terrorism to end or not? Do you want extremists and terrorists to stay in our country? Yes to terrorism or no to terrorism?”

The PAT chief called on the government to remove all containers, and asked security forces not to create "bloodshed" in Islamabad. Instructing his supporters multiple times to remain peaceful and disciplined, he said any violence that erupts would be the security forces' fault.

He once again held Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif responsible for the ‘killing’ of 14 PAT workers in Lahore’s Model Town.

“Will you go back home, if you didn’t get justice on the killing of 14 colleagues,” he asked and the participants replied ‘No’.

Earlier today, an Anti-Terrorism Court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for PAT chief Tahirul Qadri and his 72 activists for allegedly injuring 53 policemen in Gujranwala.

The protesters answered ‘no’ to the following questions of Tahirul Qadri: “Is the government unconstitutional and illegal; will the Prime Minister go home without tendering his resignation; do you want the assemblies to continue functioning; do you want the rulers to keep on governing?”

He said no one will go even close to the vicinity of the embassies and the Supreme Court of Pakistan located in the Red Zone. “Not a single drop of blood should spill in Islamabad,” he warned his marchers.

Tahirul Qadri assured the government that his protesters will remain peaceful and asked the authorities to remove containers and let the marchers go towards the Parliament House.

Meanwhile, contingents of Pakistan army have taken positions in the Red Zone, as earlier Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar also announced that the government had handed over security of Islamabad’s Red Zone to the military.

LIVE UPDATES: Palestine News:Operation Protective Edge

LIVE UPDATES: Operation Protective Edge, day 24

U.S. State Department says sides agree to 72-hour humanitarian truce; White House says 'little doubt' UNRWA school in Gaza was hit by IDF fire; Netanyahu says tunnels will be destroyed, either way; ministers order military to press on with Gaza op.

As Israel's Operation Protective Edge entered its 24th day on Thursday, the security cabinet has ordered the military to press on with the offensive in the Gaza Strip, focusing on the destruction of Hamas' tunnel network.

An Israeli delegation traveled to Cairo on Wednesday for several hours of talks over Egypt’s efforts to broker a truce in Gaza. An official said Israel will continue to allow temporary humanitarian cease-fires in certain areas.

Three Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed and 12 wounded on Wednesday afternoon in the Khan Yunis area of south Gaza, bringing the death toll in the military to 56. Three Israeli civilians have been killed in the current round of fighting.

In Gaza, the death toll in the Israeli operation has topped 1,360 according to Palestinian health officials. More than 6,500 Palestinians have been wounded in the Israeli strikes.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has declared Gaza a "humanitarian disaster area" and urged the international community to protect and provide relief to the battered enclave. In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, he accused Israel of committing war crimes.

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For Wednesday's live updates,

Latest updates [Thursday]:

1:18 A.M. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says Gaza ceasefire a 'lull of opportunity,' imperative that sides make best efforts to find common ground.

The UN representative in Jerusalem, Robert Serry, has "received assurances" that all parties have agreed to the pause, according to a joint statement released by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and United States Secretary of State John Kerry.(Reuters, DPA)

1:15 A.M. According to the Palestinian news agency Ma'an, 84 Palestinians were killed over the last 24 hours in the Gaza Strip, and 258 were wounded. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the Palestinian death toll since fighting began is now 1,442, and the number of wounded has risen to 8,295. According to the Ma'an report, the Strip's Housing Ministry estimated the damage caused by the IDF operation as totaling $4 billion, and that 5,238 buildings have been completely destroyed. (Haaretz)

12:55 A.M. Hamas says will abide by three-day Gaza truce to begin on Friday.

"Acknowledging a call by the United Nations and in consideration of the situation of our people, resistance factions agreed to a 72-hour humanitarian and mutual calm that begins at 8 a.m (0500 GMT) on Friday as long as the other side abides by it," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

"All the Palestinian factions are united behind the issue in this regard," Abu Zuhri said. (Reuters)

12:39 A.M. Israel and Hamas have agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire in their conflict in the Gaza Strip starting on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday.

The ceasefire will begin at 8 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) on Friday, Aug. 1, they said in a joint statement. The statement said "forces on the ground will remain in place" during the truce, implying that Israeli ground forces will not withdraw.

"We urge all parties to act with restraint until this humanitarian ceasefire begins, and to fully abide by their commitments during the ceasefire," Kerry and Ban said. "This ceasefire is critical to giving innocent civilians a much-needed reprieve from violence."

Israeli and Palestinian delegations will immediately travel to Cairo for negotiations with the Egyptian government to reach a durable ceasefire, the statement said (Reuters)

11:42 P.M. Call for residents of towns in Zikim to stay indoors canceled. Announcement made due to fears, now refuted, of suspected security-related incident. (Shirly Seidler, Gili Cohen)

11:03 P.M. Israel will be required under international law to take responsibility for helping Palestinian civilians if there are any further large-scale displacements from the fighting in Gaza, UNRWA chief Pierre Krähenbühl tells the United Nations Security Council.

Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the council debated a statement to condemn the deadly attacks on UN schools, the rockets hidden in vacant schools and the deaths of UN staff, but could not reach agreement. (Reuters)

10:56 P.M. Entrance to the Al Aqsa Mosque will be limited to men over 50, due to concerns of violent clashes. Police forces are expected to be deployed in the area. (Yaniv Kubovich)

22:54 P.M. Hundreds of riot police in Paris deployed near the Israeli Embassy Thursday for the first major pro-Israel rally since the start of the latest Gaza war.
Several thousand people turned out for the rally, waving signs with slogans like "Gaza hostage of Hamas" and "We protest for peace."

The demonstration happened amid persistent reports the Jewish Defense League faces a government ban. JDD militants stepped in to assure security at synagogues during pro-Gaza protests, but were blamed for provoking violence at pro-Palestinian rallies. (AP)

10:41 P.M. Officials in Ramallah are increasingly getting the impression that Israel is not interested in reaching a cease-fire agreement based on the Egyptian proposal, Haaretz has learned. Rather, they believe, Israel seeks to complete its military mission and withdraw unilaterally to the Gaza Strip border, as it did in the 2005 disengagement. (Jack Khoury)

10:07 P.M. Residents of Zikim, Yad Mordechai asked to lock themselves in homes until further notice, due to suspected security-related incident near Gaza border. (Gili Cohen)

9:36 P.M. The White House says there is little doubt it was Israeli artillery that hit a UNRWA school in Gaza, and is describing the shelling as "totally unacceptable and totally indefensible."

White House spokesman Josh Earnest cited statements from the UN blaming Israel for the shelling, as well as the Israeli government's acknowledgement that it was firing in the area of the school. Earnest says that while the U.S. supports a full investigation into the matter, "it does not appear there's a lot of doubt about whose artillery was involved." (AP)

9:31 P.M. Rocket sirens sound in Ashkelon, Gaza-bordering regions (Haaretz)

8:55 P.M. "The Hamas leadership must be taken out," says coalition chairman Yariv Levin, considered one of the more influential MKs in the Likud party. "We can't leave the Gaza Strip as it is today. We need to create a wide swath of land beyond the border, that will be a no-man's-land that the Palestinians will not be allowed to enter. The area needs to be flattened, in the sense that there will be no houses that tunnels can be dug under."

"We definitely should aim at hurting the Hamas leadership," added Levin. "It is important that Hamas know it will pay a personal price for the continuation of the fighting. Such people are dead men walking." (Jonathan Lis)

8:11 P.M. Two IDF solider wounded by sniper fire in Shujaiyeh (Gili Cohen)

8:10 P.M. Mortar shells hit house, barn in Eshkol Regional Council; rocket siren sounded, no injuries reported. (Shirley Seidler)


An Israeli woman surveys the damage after a rocket fired by Gaza militants landed in the southern town of Kiryat Gat. July 31, 2014 (Reuters)
7:50 P.M. UNRWA spokesman in Gaza Chris Gunness says the IDF is responsible for yesterday's artillery strike on the UN-run school in Jabalia, where 15 Palestinians were killed. Speaking on Israel's Channel 2, Gunness said the conclusion was made after checking the shooting's trajectory. He also said the accusations that weapons found inside UNRWA schools were returned to Hamas are lies, and that the arms were in fact turned over to disarmament experts.(Haaretz)

7:42 P.M. Number of Israelis wounded from mortar fire attack near Gaza border rises to eight. (Shirley Seidler and Gili Cohen)

7:40 P.M. Rocket hits high-voltage electricity line, cuts power to nine communities near Gaza border. (Shirley Seidler)

7:37 P.M. Ministers Sa’ar, Shalom critizise handling of Gaza op, say goal of IDF operation should have been to topple Hamas’ reign. For full story, click here (Barak Ravid)

7:31 P.M. Call for residents of towns in Sdot Negev to stay indoors canceled. Announcement made due to fears, now refuted, of suspected security-related incident. (Haaretz)

7:13 P.M. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says there’s “no promise” of a negotiated cease-fire between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip.


A Palestinian man covers his face to protect him from the smoke billowing from a milk factory hit by an Israeli strike, north of Gaza City on July 31, 2014 (AFP)
Kerry told reporters Thursday in New Delhi that the U.S. remains hopeful that a cease-fire is achievable, and he said the sooner it happens, the better.

He urges both sides to begin, quote, “bona fide negotiations” to stop the bloodshed.

The violence is now in its fourth week and has killed over a thousand Palestinians living in Gaza and several dozen Israeli troops fighting there. (AP)

7:10 P.M. The French Interior Ministry is considering placing a ban on the radical Jewish group Ligue de Défense Juive. The ministry announced it is “analysing” its legal options against the group, which has been accused of provoking pro-Palestinain demonstrators in the Paris area in recent days, the Independant reports. (Haaretz)

6:52 Several mortar shells and rockets hit open areas in Eshkol Regional Council (Shirley Seidler)

6:40 P.M. Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar confronted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a cabinet meeting on Thursday over the goals of the Gaza operation. A source who took part in the meeting says Sa'ar told the prime minister that the goal of the operation should have been to topple Hamas' reign in Gaza.

 “I wasn’t one of those (ministers) to go out in public, in front of the media, and say we need to topple the Hamas regime but today I am saying it here that that should have been the operation’s objective,” the source quoted Sa’ar as saying.

In response, Sa’ar told Haaretz, “I am legally obliged to avoid responding to things that were said in the cabinet meeting even if those quotes are incorrect.” (Barak Ravid)

6:02 P.M. Two people wounded by rocket-fire in Kiryat Gat; one, a 30-year-old man, was hospitalized in serious condition. The rocket, one of several shot at the southern city, struck the third floor of a residential building. Three other rockets were intercepted above Kiryat Gat, and another landed in an open area within the city limits. Seven people are being treated for shock.

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Shortly after the rocket struck in Kiryat Gat, July 31 2014 (Matan Shimonov)
6:00 P.M. Rocket alerts sound across Tel Aviv metropolitan area, and Gaza border-regions. Iron Dome intercepts rocket over Tel Aviv. (Gili Cohen, Shirley Seidler)

5:55 P.M. Rocket alerts sound in Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza-bordering regions (Haaretz)

5:50 P.M. UNRWA's Gaza Spokesman Chris Gunness says eight of the UN's refugee agency killed in Gaza. (Haaretz)


5:31 P.M. Rocket alerts sound across western Negev, Ashkelon region (Haaretz)

4:57 P.M. Rocket alerts sound in Gaza-bordering regions (Haaretz)

4:25 P.M. Hamas heads publish several statements simultaneously, in which they declare imminent victory. "The Palestinian people will be marking their victory in the very near future," Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar said. Khalil al-Haya, a member of Hamas' diplomatic bureau, said Netanyahu was "searching for a way out" after suffering 'blows from the resistance forces,' and added that "the only way out was an acceptance of the resistance's terms." Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum, meanwhile, said "Netanyahu is leading his army into the unknown. His allies have pulled him into a failing operation, the results of which he fails to understand." (Jack Khoury)

3:53 P.M. IDF strikes car in eastern Gaza, killing two and wounding one (Jack Khoury)

3:33 P.M. Rocket sirens sound in Ashkelon, Gaza-border region (Haaretz)

2:50 P.M. Three mortar shells hit near towns in Eshkol Regional Council. Rocket alerts were sounded. Security forces are conducting sweeps near the Gaza border fence in Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, after a rocket struck in the vicinity. (Shirley Seidler)

2:38 P.M. The UN's top human rights official is accusing Israel and Hamas militants of committing war crimes in the latest Gaza war.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay says that by placing and firing rockets within heavily populated areas both sides are committing "a violation of international humanitarian law, therefore a war crime."

Pillay also told reporters Thursday in Geneva that she sees "a recurrence of the very acts" from the 2009 Gaza war in which the UN concluded Israel deliberately targeted civilians and might have committed war crimes, along with Hamas. (News Agencies) Read full article

2:36 P.M. Mortar shell explodes in Eshkol Regional Council (Shirley Seidler)

2:04 P.M. An IDF soldier was lightly wounded by sniper fire shot from inside a mosque in Shujaiyeh. IDF responded with tank fire. (Gili Cohen)

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IDF soldiers atop a tank, outside near Gaza. July 31, 2014 (Reuters)
1:21 P.M. Rocket explodes in an open area in Sdot Negev Regional Council. (Shirly Seidler)

1:18 P.M. Malaysia denied Thursday that it is providing training for Hamas fighters in Gaza.

Deputy Home Affairs Minister Wan Junaidi Jaafar said the government has never allowed the country to be used as a training ground for Hamas fighters, even if Malaysia supports the Palestinians.

"It does not matter what kind of freedom fighting group they belong to, even those against Israel, we have never given permission to have such trainings here," he told the Astro Awani television station. "The report is incorrect."

A Hamas commander told Shin Bet commanders he and 10 other militants were sent to Malaysia to practice flying paragliders four years ago.

Malaysian leaders both from the opposition and the government have criticized the Israeli government for its continued Gaza operation. (DPA)

1:02 P.M. Nearly one quarter of the population of Gaza has been displaced over the three weeks of Israel's operation: Some 225,178 people have sought refuge in 86 UNWRA schools across the Strip. The head of UNWRA told Haaretz that the organization has demanded a number of times in recent days that Israel, as an occupying force, deliver the necessary humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. (Amira Hass)


Palestinians wait to receive food supplies from a UN food distribution center in Khan Yunis. July 31, 2014 (Reuters)

b P.M. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel was determined, regardless of ceasefire efforts, to complete the destruction of tunnels that Palestinian militants have built under the Gaza-Israel border.

"We are determined to complete this mission with or without a cease-fire," Netanyahu said in public remarks at the start of a cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv. "I wont agree to any proposal that will not enable the Israeli military to complete this important task for the sake of Israel's security." Read full article

11:59 A.M. Barrage of rockets fired at Sderot and nearby towns on Gaza border as Prime Minister Netanyahu addresses public in live address from Cabinet meeting.

11:55 A.M. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opens cabinet meeting at the Defense Ministry compound in Tel Aviv.


Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon in Tel Aviv, July 31,2014.(Reuters)
11:44 A.M. Rocket aimed at Ashkelon lands in Gaza territory. Seventeen rockets and mortars fired at south Israel since midnight. (Shirley Seidler)

11:24 A.M. Five mortar shells explode in open areas in Eshkol Regional Council. Two rockets explode in open areas in Ashkelon. (Shirley Seidler)

11:16 A.M. Rocket alarm sirens sound in Ashkelon.

11:01 A.M. Rocket alarm sirens sound in Gaza border town.

10:31 A.M. Rocket alarm siren sounds in Gaza border town.

10:27 A.M. Five Palestinians killed overnight and early morning on Thursday: Three in Khan Yunis, one in Rafah, and another who succumbed to wounds in hospital. The Gaza Health Ministry places the death toll from three weeks of the operation at 1,364 - of that number 315 children and 166 women. The number of wounded has risen to 6,785, of them 2,307 children and 1,529 women. (Jack Khoury)

9:25 A.M. Rocket alarm sirens sound in Eshkol Regional Council.


An IDF soldier prepares a Merkava tank, near the Gaza border. July 31, 2014 (AFP)
9:23 A.M. Mortar shell explodes in open area in Eshkol Regional Council. No damages reported. (Shirley Seidler)

8:37 A.M. Rocket explodes in open area near Be'er Sheva. No injuries. (Shirly Seidler)

8:30 A.M. Rocket alarm sirens sound in Be'er Sheva.

8:00 A.M. IDF attacked 19 targets in Gaza overnight, including five houses which were reportedly used as command centers. (Gili Cohen)

6:45 A.M. The IDF decided on Wednesday to call up 16,000 additional reserve troops in order to allow the military "room to breathe," a senior officer says. Their deployment will begin on Thursday, raising the number of reserve soldiers called up so far to 86,000. (Gili Cohen)

4:30 A.M. U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel speaks with Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and reiterates "the United States' support for Israel's security and its right to defend itself," according to a statement released by the Department of Defense.


A Palestinian firefighter near the wreckage of a house, in Gaza City July 31, 2014 (Reuters)
"Secretary Hagel also expressed the United States' continued concern about the rising number of Palestinian civilian deaths and loss of Israeli lives, as well as the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza," the statement said.

"Secretary Hagel stressed the need for a humanitarian ceasefire that ends hostilities and leads to a permanent cessation of hostilities based on the November 2012 ceasefire agreement, and reaffirmed the U.S. view that any process to resolve the crisis in Gaza in a lasting and meaningful way must lead to the disarmament of Hamas and all terrorist groups."

According to the statement, Ya'alon thanked Hagel for his support for the defense of Israel, particularly the Iron Dome missile interception system.

3:20 A.M. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Hamas is solely responsible for the death and destruction in Gaza, The Canadian Press reports.

"Obviously no one likes to see the suffering and loss of life that has occurred," Harper was quoted as saying. "That said, we hold the terrorist organization Hamas responsible for this. They have initiated and continue this conflict and continue to seek the destruction of the state of Israel."

2:00 A.M. A delegation comprised of Hamas and PLO representatives is prepared to depart for cease-fire talks in Cairo "at any moment," the Palestinian Safa news agency reports, citing a senior Hamas official. The official reportedly said that the truce proposal that is to be discussed is different from the one previously brought forth by Egypt. An itinerary for the trip has yet to be set.

12:10 A.M. CNN reports that the United States has agreed to an Israeli request for several types of ammunition as the ground battle in Gaza is entering its third week.

According to CNN, the items being bought are 120mm mortar rounds and 40mm ammunition for grenade launchers. Those will come from a stockpile the United States keeps in Israel, which is worth more than $1 billion, officials said.

It’s not an emergency sale, a U.S. defense official told CNN. (Jacob Kornbluh)


Weapons in a house in Gaza. Photo by IDF Spokesperson
12:01 A.M. J Street issues statement on Gaza conflict, calling for "the fighting to end through a sustainable ceasefire agreement."

"J Street strongly supports Israel’s right to defend itself proportionately against the threat of relentless rockets and to destroy tunnels leading into Israel. At the same time, we see no military victory over an ideology and no military solution to a fundamentally political conflict. We adamantly oppose calls for Israel to “reoccupy Gaza.”

"We support efforts by President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry as well as the engagement of other countries such as Egypt to bring about an immediate ceasefire. Any such ceasefire must account for Israel’s security concerns, specifically from rockets and tunnels, as well as Palestinian humanitarian needs, and should be structured to lead to negotiations to establish arrangements related to security, political issues and humanitarian assistance. We support the inclusion of the Palestinian Authority in the ceasefire and in the negotiations around security, political arrangements and humanitarian assistance.

"We are deeply offended by attacks on and mischaracterizations of the Secretary’s efforts to resolve this crisis and his relationship to the state of Israel. We believe his pursuit of not only a cease-fire, but a two-state solution represents the highest possible form of friendship to Israel and all the people of the region, and we salute and support the Secretary for his efforts." 

Palestine news:In Gaza

In Gaza, Crowded Morgue Performs Muslim Burial Rituals For Airstrike Victims

Palestinian Ahmed Jadallah, center, 75, prepares a body for burial at the morgue of Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Thursday, July 24, 2014. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) | ASSOCIATED PRESS

BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip (AP) — In the morgue at a small Gaza hospital, the anguished cries of those who lost loved ones in Israeli airstrikes fell silent Thursday when Ahmed Jadallah began attending to the corpses, one by one, on his wooden work table.

With swift, steady movements, Jadallah swaddled a toddler in a white burial shroud and later gently cleaned the soot-stained face of the child's father — Islamic rituals that momentarily reassured the grieving.

Father and son had been killed earlier in the day, along with the child's grandparents and uncle, when an airstrike on an adjacent house sent debris flying into the family's living room.

Over the past three decades, the 75-year-old Jadallah has dressed hundreds of "martyrs" — those killed in conflict with Israel. He said that his volunteer work fulfills an Islamic commandment and that he hopes it will earn him a place in paradise.

Despite his faith, he has found it harder to deal with the casualties from this round of fighting with Israel than from previous ones, especially when children end up on his table.

Nearly 790 Palestinians have been killed, including 190 children, and close to 5,000 wounded in more than two weeks of battle between Israel and Gaza's Hamas militants, according to Palestinian health officials.

"This is the toughest military operation we have witnessed," Jadallah said at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Gaza town of Beit Lahiya.

Jadallah's life mirrors the area's turbulent history: the 1948 Mideast war over Israel's creation; the Israeli capture of Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem in 1967; two Palestinian uprisings, one starting in 1987 and one in 2000; the Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007; and three rounds of Israel-Hamas fighting in 2008-09, in 2012 and now, in an outbreak that began July 8.

Jadallah was born in 1939 in the Palestinian village of Isdud, in an area that is now part of the Israeli port city of Ashdod. Jadallah and his family fled to Gaza in the 1948 war, eventually settling in the Jebaliya refugee camp, close to the Kamal Adwan hospital.

Over the years, Jadallah made a decent living in Gaza selling vegetables he bought from Israel and producing concrete blocks for construction. In the 1980s, he began volunteering to dress those killed in confrontations with Israel for burial.

"I approach this job from a religious perspective and hope God will reward me for this," he said.

Under Islamic rules, those who die a natural death are usually washed before burial, while those killed in a holy war are buried as they are, even if bloody, reflecting the idea that they are already pure enough to return to God.

"I specialize in martyrs," Jadallah said.

Jadallah's job is to wrap them in the customary white burial shrouds, secure the shrouds with strips of cloth according to specific rules and wash their faces.

On Thursday, the morgue's refrigerators held eight bodies of those killed in Israeli airstrikes overnight. Among the dead were five members of the Abu Aita family from the Jebaliya refugee camp — Ibrahim, 66; his wife, Jamila, 55; sons Ahmed, 31, and Mohammed, 40; and Ahmed's son Adham, 4.

Their neighbors, the Ajramis, said they had received a warning from the Israeli military early Thursday that their four-story home would be targeted in an airstrike, and they fled with minutes to spare, but word didn't reach the Abu Aitas in time. The missile badly damaged the Ajrami home, and the debris killed five of the Abu Aitas.

After daybreak, relatives of those killed began arriving at the morgue, a small space that barely accommodates Jadallah's work table and three refrigerators for storing the bodies.

One woman whose husband had been killed in a different airstrike shouted hysterically in the waiting area, fighting with relatives trying to stop her from seeing his body. They eventually gave in, but she fainted after Jadallah let her look inside the refrigerator.

Two Hamas policemen manned the iron door to the morgue, trying to keep down the number of people getting inside so Jadallah could work.

As he pulled a body from a refrigerator and placed it on a large metal tray on the table, one of the policemen called out the name of the dead and asked the closest relatives to come in.

After the initial wailing and chaos, calm usually descended on the room as mourners watched Jadallah work.

He ripped narrow strips of white cloth that he draped like belts around each body to secure the burial shroud. Depending on the size of the body, he uses three or five such belts; it has to be an odd number.

Jadallah bandaged the heads of those who had suffered grave skull injuries and used water-soaked bandages to wipe soot and blood off the faces. He lifted the heavy trays and pushed the table himself, despite his age.

Once a body was prepared, relatives were called into the morgue and carried out the dead on an orange stretcher. Some chanted "takbir," praising God as the Almighty, usually followed by the response "Allahu akbar," or God is great, as they left with the body.

Jadallah, a father of six, said he shares the pain of those around him, even if he doesn't betray emotion while working. After handling so many of the dead over the years, he said he finds it hard to forgive Israel, let along consider the possibility of a peace agreement.

Israel has said it is striking Hamas targets in Gaza to harm the militant group's ability launch attacks at Israel, whether by firing rockets or sending infiltrators through tunnels.

Jadallah said conditions in Gaza, home to 1.7 million people, have steadily deteriorated since he was a boy, mainly because of overcrowding and the 7-year-old border blockade by Egypt and Israel.

"Spilling blood is not something small," he said. "But the war was imposed on us. Even if they (the Israelis) kill dozens, we don't care. We will get back our homeland."

Associated Press writer Yousur Alhlou in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Israel Hits 30 Gaza Homes, Kills Senior Militant

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli aircraft struck 30 houses in the Gaza Strip early Friday, killing a leader of the militant Islamic Jihad group and two of his sons, as Israel's Security Cabinet was to decide whether to expand its operation or consider ideas for a cease-fire.

Israeli ground troops and Hamas gunmen fought intense battles in the north and center of the territory, Palestinian officials said.

The Israeli military said it hit 45 sites in Gaza, including what it said was a Hamas military command post, while Gaza militants continued to fire dozens of rockets at Israel, with one hitting an empty house.

On the 18th day of fighting, Israel's Security Cabinet was to convene later Friday to consider international cease-fire proposals, an Israeli defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deliberations were taking place behind closed doors.

One plan calls for a five-day humanitarian truce during which Israel and Hamas would negotiate new border arrangements for blockaded Gaza, said Hana Amireh, a senior Palestine Liberation Organization official in the West Bank, who is involved in cease-fire efforts.

Hamas has said it will not halt fire without international guarantees that Egypt and Israel will open Gaza's border crossings and end their seven-year-old blockade. Israel and Egypt are reluctant to ease the blockade, fearing this will enable Hamas to tighten its grip on Gaza.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal has "put so many preconditions on a cease-fire so as to make it impossible."

Israeli media reported that the military also wants more time to continue destroying rocket sites and tunnels from Gaza into Israel, which Hamas has used to launch attacks. The military says it has found 31 tunnels but only destroyed about one-third of them so far. Israel has mobilized over 65,000 reserve forces during the fighting.

In Jerusalem, hundreds of Palestinians protested in the traditionally Arab east of the city after Muslim noon prayers, and a dozen protesters threw rocks and fireworks at Israeli police, who fired stun grenades and water cannons. Thousands of Israeli security forces had been deployed for possible Palestinian protests.

The night before, thousands of Palestinians protesting the Gaza fighting clashed with Israeli security forces in the West Bank and in east Jerusalem in one of the biggest protests in the territory in years. One Palestinian was killed and dozens were wounded, according to Palestinian medical officials.

In Gaza, the Palestinian death toll reached 828, after 115 were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest days of fighting, said Ashraf al-Kidra, a Palestinian health official. More than 5,200 Palestinians have been wounded since July 8, he said.

During the same period, 35 Israelis, among them 33 soldiers, and a Thai worker were killed. Included in the count is an Israeli reservist killed Friday, the army said.

Early Friday, Israeli warplanes struck 30 houses throughout the Gaza Strip, including the home of Salah Hassanein, a leader of the military wing of Islamic Jihad, the second-largest militant group in Gaza after Hamas.

Hassanein and two of his sons were killed in the airstrike, said Gaza police spokesman Ayman Batniji and al-Kidra. The Israeli army confirmed the strike.

Over the past two weeks, Israeli aircraft have repeatedly hit homes of Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders. Most had gone into hiding, but the strikes killed a leader of an Islamic Jihad rocket squad, a Hamas commander and a son of senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Haya, according to the Israeli military.

Such strikes have also claimed the lives of a large number of civilians. A Gaza human rights group said earlier this week that close to 500 homes have been damaged or destroyed in direct hits from the air, and that more than 320 people have been killed in their homes as a result of military strikes.

Germany's two largest airlines said they are not yet resuming flights to Israel even though the European Aviation Safety Agency has lifted a recommendation that airlines refrain from flying to Tel Aviv.

Air Berlin says flights to Tel Aviv remain suspended at least through midday Friday, while Lufthansa says all Friday flights to the airport have been canceled because of ongoing security concerns after a Gaza rocket landed about a mile away from Israel's international airport.

Lufthansa's cancellations apply to subsidiaries Germanwings, Austrian Airlines, Swiss and Brussels Airlines as well.

___

Barzak reported from Gaza City. Associated Press writer Karin Laub in Gaza City, Gaza Strip contributed to this report.

NewsNow: Palestine war Israel News

Israel's offensive in Gaza has 'killed more children than fighters', say human rights groups

Humanitarian chiefs have accused Israeli generals of waging a "war on children" and say a third of the dead are under 18

Babies placed alongside dolls and doll parts with fake blood, symbolizing the death of children in Gaza, are seen during a demonstration for Palestine, in Berlin.








By Richard Spencer, and David Blair
 in Gaza9:16PM BST 22 Jul 2014

More children than Palestinian fighters are being killed in the offensive on Gaza, according to the latest United Nations statistics, despite Israel's claims to be waging a targeted military campaign.
Gaza's health ministry said that 580 Palestinians had been killed, including 155 children.
The UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that, as of Tuesday morning, 149 children had been killed, compared with 87 confirmed members of armed groups. Even including unconfirmed combatant deaths, more children would still have died.
The Palestinian monitoring group Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights has given The Telegraph the names of 132 of the dead, all under the age of 18.
In addition, Save the Children said almost a third of those injured were children. Less than a quarter of all casualties are thought to be Hamas militants.


"This is why we described the ongoing operation as a war on children," said Osama Damo, a Save the Children official in Gaza.
Dr Ashraf Al-Qidra, a health ministry spokesman, said that 84 women were also among the dead and a total of 3,650 people had been wounded.
On Tuesday, an air strike destroyed six floors of Salam Tower in the centre of Gaza City, killing at least 11 people including Ibrahim Al-Kilani, a professor of engineering, his wife and their five children. All had earlier fled from Shejaiya, where more than 70 people died in the biggest Israeli bombardment of the war on Sunday.
The impact of the conflict on children has been brought home in part by social media, which has streamed distressing photographs of small, mutilated corpses around the world. One incident, in which four boys were killed while playing football on a beach, was particularly striking, partly because journalists had been playing with them shortly beforehand and witnessed what had happened.
Human Rights Watch said in a statement that investigations of cases where there were similar casualties with no apparent military objective suggested Israel had committed war crimes.
"Israeli forces' failure to direct attacks at a military target violates the laws of war," a statement said. "Israeli forces may also have knowingly or recklessly attacked people who were clearly civilians, such as young boys, and civilian structures, including a hospital – laws-of-war violations that are indicative of war crimes."
Israel says that Hamas bears responsibility for civilian deaths because it launches rockets from and stores weapons in civilian areas.
"All civilian casualties are unintended by us, but intended by Hamas," Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said on Sunday. "They use telegenically dead Palestinians for their cause."
On Monday, the Israeli ambassador to Washington, Ron Dermer, compared the Hamas rocket attacks, responsible so far for two Israeli civilian deaths, to the Blitz and said the Israeli Defence Forces should win the Nobel Peace Prize "for fighting with unimaginable restraint".
Israel does issue warnings before some buildings are attacked. Inhabitants of a block on Omar Mukhtar Street in Gaza City received a telephone warning and all 200 were able to escape before it was destroyed at 5.30am.
Aid agencies point out that, unlike in other wars, Palestinians, enclosed by the security fence around Gaza, cannot flee. As of last night, 118,000 people were sheltering at UN schools and other facilities. But even there they may not be safe. The UN Relief and Works Agency said a girls' school housing refugees had suffered a "direct hit from Israeli shelling" yesterday. It was unclear whether any casualties had been inflicted.
On the Israeli side, 29 people have been killed, all but two soldiers.
In Cairo, attempts to negotiate a ceasefire seemed to take a step forward. Hamas and the Palestinian Authority were believed to be discussing a temporary ceasefire of five days in which talks for an easing of the joint Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza could begin, though Hamas has yet to agree. It was unclear whether that would be acceptable to the Israelis. Last week they accepted an Egyptian unconditional ceasefire proposal, but have since begun a ground invasion and say that will not be stopped until it has destroyed the network of tunnels Hamas uses to infiltrate fighters into Israel.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, said it was his "hope and belief" that there would be an end to the fighting soon. After meeting John Kerry, the US secretary of state, in Cairo on Monday, he went to Jerusalem and the West Bank for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders yesterday.

Major American and European airlines suspend flights to and from Israel

22.07.2014 15:04
A number of major US and European airlines are immediately suspending flights to and from Israel after a rocket attack near Ben-Gurion International Airport. US Airways, Lufthansa and Delta are some of the companies grounding their planes.

Israeli soldier missing, presumed dead in Gaza

Israeli soldiers from the Golani Infantry Brigade on Saturday ahead of their deadly engagement in Gaza. Photo: AFP/Jack Guez Jerusalem: An Israeli soldier is missing in the Gaza Strip and presumed dead, two days after the Islamist Hamas group announced it had captured a soldier during clashes. Israel's Channel 10 News said the military believed the man was killed along with six other troops in an attack on an armoured vehicle on Sunday. 

NewsNow: Palestine News

Gaza conflict: Barack Obama 'concerned' by increasing deaths as Israeli shells hit hospital killing four

Palestinian death toll rises further after reports of the shelling of a hospital in the central Gaza Strip which wounded at least 20 hospital staff

By David Blair in Gaza City and Raziye Akkoc

6:08PM BST 21 Jul 2014

Israeli tanks bombarded a hospital in the Gaza Strip, killing four people, and an air strike claimed the

lives of 24 members of the same family.
On the 14th day of Operation Protective Edge, the Palestinian death toll climbed above 530 while Hamas, the radical Islamist movement, managed to launch another 50 rockets at Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv.
Perhaps a dozen tank shells struck al-Aqsa hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah, exploding inside the intensive care unit, the administration building and the surgery department. The Gaza health ministry said four people were killed and another 60 injured, including medical staff.
Further south, an air strike destroyed a home in the town of Khan Younis, killing 24 members of the Abu Jamaa family.
Meanwhile, Israel resumed its bombardment of the suburb of Shejaiya in Gaza City, where at least 70 people were killed on Sunday in the heaviest barrage of the campaign. Pillars of smoke rose from the area and explosions echoed over the rooftops.

23 killed in Gaza 'in 2 hours'

Published today (updated) 21/07/2014 22:33

(MaanImages)

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli artillery shelling and airstrikes across the Gaza Strip killed 23

Palestinians over only two hours late Monday, bringing the day's death toll to over 100.

Spokesman for the ministry of health Ashraf al-Qidra said 11 Palestinians including five children were killed, and others were injured in an Israeli strike on Israa tower in central Gaza City.

Eight of them were identified as Ibrahim Deeb Ahmad al-Kilani, 53, Yasir Ibrahim Deeb al-Kilani, 8, Elias Ibrahim Deeb al-Kilani, 4, Sawsan Ibrahim Deeb al-Kilani, 11, Reem Ibrahim Deeb al-Kilani, 12, Taghrid Shabaan Mohammad al-Kilani, 45, Mahmoud Shabaan Mohammad Dirbas, 37 and Ayda Shabaan Mohammad Dirbas, 47.

A Ma'an reporter said they included a father, mother their four children, and the mother's brother and sister.

Meanwhile Jihad Mahmoud al-Mughrabi, 22, died of injuries sustained in Khan Younis, while Fadi Bashir al-Abadla, 22, was killed in a separate attack.

Medical sources said that three others were killed as Israeli forces targeted a group of people in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. Al-Qidra identified them as Fadi Azmi Bureim, Othman Salim Bureim, and Salim Abdul Majid Bureim.

As Palestinians broke their Ramadan fasts Monday evening, two people were killed in a strike near the al-Shamaa mosque in the al-Zaytoun neighborhood in southern Gaza City.

The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine said one of its leaders, Zakaria Abu Daqqa, was killed in a drone strike in Khan Younis.

Two others were injured in a strike on a motorbike in al-Qarara.

Three more Palestinians were killed in an airstrike on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where Israeli airstrikes destroyed the al-Dahlan family house in the al-Nasr neighborhood.

One Palestinian died of injuries sustained in the head in strikes on Rafah.

Also, Rajai Jihad Abu Daghma, 38, died in a hospital in Cairo on Monday.

Al-Qassam Brigades announces: "We captured an Israeli soldier"

 Published on Monday, 21 July 2014 02:25
 arrestedisraelisolders

Gaza/PNN/

Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced on Sunday night that they had captured an Israeli soldier east of Gaza.

Abu Obaida the spokesman of the Al-Qassam Brigades said in a press conference "The Israeli soldier is called Aaron Shaul and his number is 6092065. He was captured during the cattle in the Al-Shujaiyya neighborhood during which we also killed fourteen Israeli soldiers and wounded more than fifty.

Hamas said in a statement: "The Israeli soldier was captured in an ambush east of Gaza City and this is a great victory for the resistance".

Palestinians celebrated it in several Palestinian cities as they hope this will contribute to the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.