Israeli gunboat missiles have killed four Palestinian boys from the same family as they played on a beach in the Gaza Strip, bringing the death toll in the nine-day conflict to 204. Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al Kedra says the four boys killed in Gaza's seaport today were all under the age of 18, adding that some of the seven other people wounded were adults.
Israel has intensified air and tank strikes on what it says are Hamas militant targets in the Gaza strip after dropping flyers and making automated phone calls ordering tens of thousands of Palestinians in the north and east of the region to leave their homes by 8am this morning.
Israel's resumption of air and tank strikes on Gaza comes after authorities said one of the hundreds of rockets launched from within the Hamas-dominated region has caused the first Israeli fatality in the nine day-old conflict.
The renewed bombings came a day after Israel initially accepted an Egyptian truce proposal that called for a halt of hostilities. That was to be followed by talks on the terms of a longer-term cease-fire, including easing Gaza's seven-year-old border blockade by Israel and Egypt.
Hamas rejected the plan and instead launched more rockets at Israel. The militant group views a significant easing of the blockade as key to its survival, but does not believe Egypt's current rulers - who deposed a Hamas-friendly government in Cairo last year - can be fair brokers.
'The siege on Gaza must be broken and the people of Gaza should live freely like other people of the world,' Moussa Abu Marzouk, a top Hamas official, said. 'There should be a new equation so that we will not have a war on Gaza every two years.'
As Cairo's effort collapsed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Hamas will pay a high price for rejecting the truce offer, adding that he would 'widen and increase' Israel's campaign, but it remains unclear if that will include a ground offensive.
Israel has warned it might send troops into Gaza and has massed thousands of soldiers on the border. But entering Gaza is likely to drive up casualties on both sides. Israel has hesitated in the past to embark on ground operations for fear of getting entangled in the densely-populated territory of 1.7 million.
Zahar was a key figure in Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza in 2007, while the other three were members of the Palestinian parliament elected in 2006. Many Hamas leaders have gone into hiding since the beginning of the Israeli offensive.
Alongside the air strikes, Israel also ordered tens of thousands of residents of the northern town of Beit Lahiya and the Zeitoun and Shijaiyah neighborhoods of Gaza City, all near the border with Israel, to evacuate their homes by 8 a.m. Wednesday.
The warnings were delivered in automated phone calls, text messages and leaflets dropped from planes and told residents of Israel's plans to 'attack terrorists and terror infrastructures,' adding: 'Israel is currently attacking, and will continue to attack, every area from which rockets are being launched at its territory'.
The leaflets go on to say: 'The IDF [Israeli Defence Force] is not interested in hurting you or your family members. These operations are limited and short. Whoever does not adhere to these instructions and does not vacate their house immediately is subjecting their lives and the lives of their children and family to danger.'
They also gave detailed instructions on which roads those fleeing their homes should take, and when would be a safe time to travel.
This morning, hundreds of residents of Zeitoun and Shijaiyah were seen walking in the streets, carrying small bags with belongings. Older children carried smaller ones, in their arms or on their backs.
See more pictures of the carnage below.
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