Toll rises in Gaza

Renewed airstrikes in Gaza killed at least 21, including several children, and injured 120, Palestinian health officials announced Wednesday. Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qedra said a strike by Israel killed eight members of one family in their house in the town of Deir el-Ballah in the central Gaza Strip.

The most recent airstrikes took place Wednesday, when Israeli media reported the military had killed Hamas leader Mohamed Deif. A woman and child were killed in a Gaza City airstrike on Tuesday night, with speculation circulating through the media that they were Deif's wife and child. Though a funeral was held for the wife and child, Hamas officials say Deif was not killed.

Israel's "Operation Protective Edge," launched July 8, has claimed more than 2,000 lives in Gaza, about three-quarters of them civilians, according to the United Nations. Sixty-four Israeli soldiers have been killed in combat, and three civilians died in rocket attacks launched by militants from Gaza.

Next moves

Israel alleges that militants fired rockets from Gaza Tuesday, hours before the midnight expiration of a truce. Hamas denied the rocket launches. The armed wing of the political faction did, however, claim responsibility for later volleys into southern and central Israel, which reported no casualties. An army spokeswoman said that militants had fired 159 rockets, of which 119 hit southern and central Israel, with 27 shot down and the the army had hit 92 targets across Gaza in response.

In Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called together his security Cabinet to discuss Israel's next steps. Hard-liners in the prime minister's government have called on him to launch a broad military operation against Hamas, the Palestinian political faction that runs Gaza.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the breach of the truce and called on the parties to find "a durable ceasefire which also addresses the underlying issues afflicting Gaza."

Palestinian negotiator Azzam al-Ahmed said Israelis hadn't responded to the latest peace proposals. Ahmed's delegation wants Israel and Egypt to lift a blockade imposed in 2007 - when Hamas took control of Gaza after winning 2006 elections and physically ousting the Fatah party - which would include reopening border crossings to allow the free flow of people and goods. Netanyahu said he would not make any concessions that he said could endanger Israel's security and demanded the disarming of militant groups within the Gaza Strip as well as continued control over crossing points.

Israel's government has faced international criticism over its military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The war has destroyed thousands of homes and buildings in Gaza and seriously damaged its infrastructure, including water systems and the only power plant. More than 10,000 people have been left homeless in Gaza.

mkg/bw (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)