Obama offers to help broker Gaza ceasefire
US President Barack Obama phones the Israeli prime minister offering to help negotiate a truce, as the Israel bombing offensive continues into its fourth day.
At least 79 Palestinians, 60 of them civilians, including children, have now been killed by the Israeli offensive, which entered its fourth day on Friday.
Israel says the air strikes are a response to rocket attacks on its civilian population, some of which have reached Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities. Israeli leaders have appeared to hint at a possible invasion by ground forces, and some 20,000 army reservists have been mobilised near the Gaza border.
US President Barack Obama told Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu by telephone on Thursday that the United States was willing to help negotiate a ceasefire, the White House said.
A spokeswoman for US Secretary of State John Kerry said: “Nobody wants to see a ground invasion.”
Thousands rally in New York to protest against ongoing Israeli air strikes against Gaza pic.twitter.com/Wa8J55u5oB
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) July 10, 2014
Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a televised statement on Thursday: “So far the battle is progressing as planned, but we can expect further stages in future. Up to now, we have hit Hamas and the terror organisations hard and as the battle continues we will increase strikes at them.”
The four day offensive is the deadliest since October 2012, when around 160 Palestinians and six Israelis were killed during an Israeli campaign to punish Hamas for missile attacks. That conflict was eventually halted with Egyptian mediation.
Video: watch Foreign Correspondent Jonathan Miller’s report from Thursday 10 July