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Gaza violence spirals

Death toll hits 78 as Israel hits 750 targets in 3 days

AFP, Gaza City
Israeli warplanes pounded Gaza relentlessly yesterday, causing a growing number of civilian casualties, as the UN Security Council was meeting urgently over Israel's spiralling confrontation with Hamas.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has accused Israel of committing "genocide" in Gaza, but Israel showed no sign of letting up, with six children among 27 Palestinians killed in air strikes carried out since midnight (2100 GMT).
The deaths bring to 78 the overall number of Gazans killed since Israel launched Operation Protective Edge early on Tuesday to halt cross-border rocket fire.
And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed even tougher action against Hamas, despite growing international calls for a ceasefire in the worst confrontation in and around Gaza since 2012.
So far, there have been no Israel deaths
but Hamas has kept up a steady barrage of rocket fire on cities in central Israel, sending people fleeing for cover as air raid sirens rang out in cities as far away as Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and even Haifa.
The violence has emptied the streets from Gaza City to Tel Aviv, as both Israelis and Palestinians take shelter indoors for fear of being caught in the open when the next rocket or missile hits.
And Israel has confirmed preparations are under way for a possible ground attack, with tanks seen massing along the border and Netanyahu facing mounting pressure from hardliners within his coalition to put boots back on the ground in the territory from which Israel pulled all troops and settlers in 2005.
"Gaza is on a knife edge. The deteriorating situation is leading to a downward spiral which could quickly get beyond anyone's control," UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned ahead of an emergency meeting of the Security Council at 1400 GMT.
"The risk of violence expanding further still is real. Gaza, and the
region as a whole, cannot afford another full-blown war," he said.
Ban spoke with Netanyahu, urging him to exercise maximum restraint, although he described the Gaza rocket attacks as" unacceptable and must stop".
He also spoke with Abbas, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and US Secretary of State John Kerry over the crisis, which drawn calls for restraint from Washington and the European Union.
Five children and four women were among 27 people killed in Israeli air strikes on Thursday, medics said, with most of the bloodshed in Khan Yunis.
The Israeli military said it had hit more than 300 targets overnight, raising the total number of strikes in just over 48 hours to 750, in Israel's largest military operation in Gaza since November 2012.
Neither side has shown any sign of backing down, and Israel has approved the call-up of 40,000 reservists as it steps up its preparations for a possible ground assault.