TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Israeli military says it is ordering Palestinians living in the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate the area “for their own safety.”
In a statement Saturday, the military said it would send messages to residents overnight to leave the area.
Brig. Gen. Motti Almoz, the chief military spokesman, said Israel planned to hit the area with heavy force in the next 24 hours as it steps up an offensive against Gaza militants.
Israel widened its air assault against Gaza on Saturday, hitting a mosque, Hamas-affiliated charities and an Islamic home for the disabled, as Palestinians said the death toll from the five-day offensive rose to 135.
While Israel vowed to press forward with its 5-day-old campaign, it found itself facing growing international calls to stop.
In New York, the U.N. Security Council unanimously called for a cease-fire, while Britain’s foreign minister said he would be discussing cease-fire efforts with his American, French and German counterparts on Sunday.
The 15-member Security Council issued a press statement calling for a de-escalation, restoration of calm and a resumption of Mideast peace talks. The press statement, which is not legally binding but reflects international opinion, was the first response by the U.N.’s most powerful body.
The Israel military said it has struck more than 1,100 targets, including Hamas rocket launchers, command centres and weapon manufacturing and storage facilities, in a bid to stop relentless rocket fire coming Gaza. Officials in the territory said that two women were killed in the attack on the disabled centre.
Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Kidra said Israeli strikes raised the death toll there to 135, with more than 920 wounded.
Among the dead was a nephew of Ismail Haniyeh, a top Hamas leader, who was killed in an airstrike near his home, Hamas officials said.
RINDU P. HESTYA | TIMES