Two Thai workers killed in Israel-Gaza fighting as truce calls mount
- Israel said it would press on with the offensive amid calls by world powers for an end to the conflict
- The UN aid agency said more than 52,000 Palestinians have been displaced by Israeli air strikes
Israeli leaders said they would press on, for now, with an offensive to destroy the capabilities of the armed factions Hamas and Islamic jihad, amid calls by the United States and other world powers for an end to the conflict.
Two Thai workers were killed and seven people were wounded in a rocket strike on an Israeli farm just over the Gaza border, police said. Hamas and Islamic jihad claimed responsibility.
“The fighting will not cease until we bring total and long-term quiet,” Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said in a video statement, blaming Hamas for the worst escalation in Israeli-Palestinian fighting in years.
Hamas began firing rockets eight days ago in retaliation for what it said were Israeli rights abuses against Palestinians in Jerusalem. Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Israel’s 21 per cent Arab minority staged a general strike on Tuesday in solidarity.
“It allows the other side, the Jews, to realise the big impact of the Arabs,” Diaa Rabaya’a, 23, said at Damascus Gate between East Jerusalem and the Old city. “Any day they choose not to work, it almost disables the country.”