Israel has continued its devastating offensive against the Gaza Strip, killing at least 14 people, according to AP, as it targets Hamas sites, which the IDF claim is responsible for firing rockets into Israel. The fighting, the most intensive since late 2012, saw Hamas militants fire rockets into Israel, acts that have led to a mobilisation of thousands along the Gaza border as Israel prepares for a ground invasion of Palestine.
Reported by AP, Israel has attacked more than 400 sites in Gaza in the past two days, leading to at least 32 deaths. Hamas militants have fired around 160 rockets into Israeli territory, one reaching the city of Hadera more than 60 miles from Gaza. Air raid sirens have sounded in Tel Aviv, with the IDF claiming inbound missiles were destroyed before they reached the city.
"The organisation is going to pay for its aggression," said Israeli spokesperson Peter Lerner, "It is literally holding us hostage with its rockets." He added that the offensive was designed to take a "substantial toll" of Hamas and that "the country is not willing for this situation to continue".
Speaking on Wednesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said: "I have been in contact with the regional and international parties in the last few days, particularly Hamas leaders in Gaza, and everyone I've talked to expressed his willingness to restore the truce and stop the escalation," adding that the Israeli actions against Gaza was "orchestrated and brutal aggression."
On Wednesday, the BBC found itself in the middle of an information war after it ran a video claiming images shared across social media purportedly showing death and destruction caused by Israel in Gaza were fake. The broadcaster was subsequently accused of conspiring with the Jewish state to underplay the damage its military is inflicting.