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
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
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 02:25arrestedisraelisolders
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.
