Israel warns of wider Gaza assault as toll soars

Fifty-five Palestinians in Gaza were killed on Friday as Israel pressed a major ground offensive in the coastal enclave, raising the overall Palestinian death toll since 8 July to 296, Palestinian medics said.

An Israeli soldier was also killed as troops began an offensive on the Gaza periphery, but Israeli television said he died by "friendly fire".

The spiralling death toll comes as the Israeli ground offensive in Gaza entered its second day. While diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire continue, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the military has been ordered to prepare for "the possibility of a significant broadening of the ground activity."

The latest Palestinian deaths on Friday, included three members of a family killed in an Israeli strike in southern Gaza's Rafah, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.

Shortly before, eight members of a single family - two men, two women and four children - were killed in tank shelling on their home in northern Gaza's Beit Hanun.

A four children, aged between two and 13, were also killed in tank shelling east of Gaza City, Qudra said. Among them were brothers Emad Alwan, seven, and Qasem Alwan, four.

Many of the deaths were in southern Khan Yunis and Rafah, where a five month-old baby was among those killed.

Figures provided by the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights show civilians account for more than 80 percent of the victims of Israel's assault since 8 July. At least 2,200 Palestinians have also been wounded.

Since the Israeli operation began, more than 1,207 rockets fired from Gaza have struck Israel, and another 333 have been shot down by the country's Iron Dome air defence system, Israeli army figures show.

On the Israeli side, a civilian was killed by rocket fire earlier this week, while four others were seriously injured.

'Significant broadening of the ground activity'

Despite the growing casualties and the prospect of a further escalation, Hamas has remained steadfast, warning Israel on Friday that it would "drown in the swamp of Gaza".

The warning came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the military was preparing for the “possibility of a significant broadening” of the ground offensive. Immediately after the statement, Netanyahu convened his security cabinet to discuss plans for a possible expansion of the campaign.

The ground phase of Operation Protective Edge, began at around 8:00 pm, GMT on Thursday, sending thousands of people fleeing west.

The UN Palestinian refugee agency said that number of displaced has now doubled, almost overnight, with the majority of the displaced sheltering in 34 UNRWA schools.

"The number of people coming to UNRWA seeking sanctuary from the fighting in Gaza has nearly doubled today. It has risen from 22,000 to over 40,000," said Chris Gunness, an UNRWA spokesperson.

The escalation has brought Gaza to a near standstill. By mid-morning Friday, the road between Gaza City and Khan Yunis was largely deserted. An AFP’s correspondent reported only a single minibus, packed with passengers, careering south, its windows covered with makeshift white flags.

During Friday prayers, imams at Gaza's 1,400 mosques relayed a single message to the faithful: "Be patient and strong, victory will come."

Despite the message, however, conditions continued to deteriorate. Drinking water and food are in short supply and Gaza’s medical facilities are being overwhelmed by the flood of patients.

"The situation is very, very difficult," said Doctor Kamel Zaqzuq at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis.

"All night, it's one constant emergency."

The World Food Programme has already distributed emergency food rations and vouchers to more than 20,000 displaced people since the conflict erupted, but the organisation is expected to seriously step up operations in the coming days.

"In the next few days, WFP hopes to reach 85,000 people with food distribution," spokesperson Elisabeth Byrs told reporters in Geneva.

Constant electricity shortages have also hit Gaza hard, with 70 percent power of Gaza seeing even its limited electricity supply cut, after supply lines from Israel were damaged, officials said.

Tunnel vision

Israel has said the aim of the ground operation is to destroy Hamas's network of tunnels, which have been used to launch cross-border attacks into southern Israel.

"It is not possible to deal with tunnels only from the air, so our soldiers are also doing that on the ground," Netanyahu said, while admitting there was "no guarantee of 100 percent success."

The international community has expressed growing concern over the conflict, although efforts to reach a ceasefire have thus far failed to reach a deal.

US President Barack Obama told reporters in Washington on Friday that the US continued to supports Israel's right to defend itself, although in a move that some analysts are interpreting as a sign of Washington’s toughening stance, Obama did add that he "deeply concerned about the risks of further escalation and the loss of more innocent life."

Washington remains "hopeful" that Israel would operate "in a way that minimises civilian casualties," Obama said.

Meanwhile, Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas arrived in Turkey where he tried to build support for a controversial Egyptian-brokered ceasefire proposal which came to light earlier this week.

Hamas rejected the deal, saying that it would not lay down its arms until at least a preliminary political solution was reached. However, according to reports, Abbas has now asked the French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius to intervene, urging Paris to ask Hamas allies, Qatar and Turkey to put pressure on the group to accepting a ceasefire.

International protests

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has so far stayed firm in his condemnation of the Israeli authorities on Tuesday, saying that country was carrying out a “systemic genocide” in Gaza.

Large anti-Israeli protests also rocked the country on Friday, with Ankara police firing tear gas and disperse crowds who had gathered outside of the Israeli consulate and began chanting and throwing rocks.

Israel has responded by announcing that it would pull out some of its diplomatic staff.

Demonstrations in support of Palestinians have likewise broken out across a number of Arab and international cities, with further protests planned for tomorrow.

In France, however, the government announced that it would enact a controversial ban on pro-Palestinian protests in Paris, although demonstrations took place in Nice in southern France.

Similar protests have been ongoing in a number of European capitals, including London, Madrid, Athens, Sarajevo and Bucharest. In the Arab world, demonstrations were reported in Tunisia, Jordan, Yemen, Sudan, Bahrain, and Lebanon.

Demonstrations also happened in various Asian, African and North and South American counties including, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Honk Kong, the US, Chile, Mexico as well as South Africa, which is known to be sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.