An Israeli air strike in Gaza destroyed several homes on Sunday, killing 42 Palestinians, including 10 children, health officials said, as militants fired rockets at Israel with no end in sight to seven days of fighting.
The Israeli military said the civilian casualties were unintentional. It said its jets attacked a tunnel system used by militants, which collapsed, bringing the homes down.
Netanyahu also defended an Israeli air strike on Saturday that destroyed a 12-storey building where the Associated Press and the Al Jazeera TV network had offices. He said the structure also housed a militant group’s intelligence office and was thus a legitimate target.
“We are acting now, (and) for as long as necessary, to restore calm and quiet to you, Israel’s citizens. It will take time,” Netanyahu said in a televised address after meeting with his security cabinet.
Israeli air strikes kill 42 Palestinians
The death toll in Gaza jumped to 192, including 58 children, its health ministry said, amid an intensive Israeli air and artillery barrage since the fighting erupted last Monday.
Ten people have been killed in Israel, including two children, Israeli authorities say.
In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council that hostilities in Israel and Gaza were “utterly appalling” and called for an immediate end to fighting.
He said the United Nations was “actively engaging all sides toward an immediate ceasefire” and urged them “to allow mediation efforts to intensify and succeed.”
The United States told the Security Council it has made clear to Israel, the Palestinians and others that it is ready to offer support “should the parties seek a ceasefire”.
In his address in Israel, Netanyahu said he wanted to “exact a price from the aggressor” and restore deterrence to prevent future conflict.
On U.S. network CBS’s “Face the Nation” programme, Netanyahu said Israel had passed information to U.S. authorities about Saturday’s attack on the al-Jala building. Israel had given advance warning to occupants of the building to leave.
The Associated Press has condemned the strike and asked Israel to put forward its evidence that Hamas was in the building.
There was “an intelligence office for the Palestinian terrorist organization housed in that building that plots and organizes terror attacks against Israeli civilians, so it’s a perfectly legitimate target,” Netanyahu said.
