Israeli jets strike Gaza at start of Muslim holiday

Attacks come after 12-hour pause in fighting; UN seeks immediate truce

Israeli jets struck three sites in Gaza on Monday after a rocket was launched at Israel, the military said, disrupting a relative lull in the war-torn territory at the start of a major Muslim holiday.

The strikes followed a 12-hour pause in fighting and came as international efforts intensified to end the three-week conflict between Israel and Hamas. The UN called for an "immediate" cease-fire.

Israel's military said it struck two rocket launchers and a rocket manufacturing facility in central and northern Gaza after a rocket hit southern Israel earlier in the day. The rocket caused no damage or injuries.

Earlier, the Israeli military said it had not carried out any attacks in Gaza since 9:30 pm on Sunday but that troops on the ground were pressing on with efforts to destroy the cross-border tunnels constructed by Hamas for attacks inside Israel.

Also, the Israeli military opened artillery fire on Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza in response to the rocket fired at Ashkelon, said the office of Israel's military spokesman. "Quiet will be met with quiet," the office statement said.

As Muslims began celebrating the Eid al-Fitr holiday on Monday that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, there was fear and mourning instead of holiday cheer in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian families huddled inside their homes, fearing more airstrikes, while those who came to a cemetery in Gaza City's Sheik Radwan neighborhood to pay traditional respects at their ancestors' graves gathered around a large crater from an airstrike a week ago that had broken up several graves.

Emergency meeting

In New York, an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council called for "an immediate and unconditional humanitarian cease-fire".

And while it was the council's strongest statement yet on the conflict that has already killed 1,030 Palestinians, 43 Israeli soldiers and three civilians on the Israeli side, it was not a resolution and therefore not binding.

Palestine's representative to the UN Riyad Mansour did not hide his disappointment. He said the council should have adopted a strong and legally binding resolution a long time ago demanding an immediate halt to Israel's "aggression", providing the Palestinian people with protection and lifting the siege in the Gaza Strip so goods and people can move freely.

"You cannot keep 1.8 million Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip in this huge prison," Mansour told reporters. "That is a recipe for disaster. It is inhumane, and it has to be stopped and it has to be lifted."

Israeli UN Ambassador Ron Prosor also criticized the statement - though from a very different perspective - saying it lacked balance because it didn't mention Hamas, the firing of rockets into Israel or Israel's right to defend itself.

Israel said it started its Gaza operation on July 8 to stop the rocket fire from the coastal territory and intensified it on July 17 to neutralize Hamas cross-border tunnels built to carry out attacks on Israeli territory.

The pressure for a cease-fire followed new attacks launched by Israel and Hamas on Sunday despite the back-and-forth over proposals for another temporary halt to the fighting.

(China Daily 07/29/2014 page12)