Gaza Bloodshed Deepens As Airlines Shun Israel

[Purveyor]

Source: REUTERS

* Foreign airlines shun Tel Aviv over rocket risk
* Gaza death toll hits 687; 3 more Israeli soldiers die
* UN rights chief warns of possible war crimes
* Diplomatic efforts pursued on many fronts (Updates with Hamas leader Meshaal's comments, Palestinian protester dies in West Bank)

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Crispian Balmer

GAZA/JERUSALEM, July 23 (Reuters) - Gaza fighting raged on Wednesday, displacing thousands more Palestinians in the battered territory as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said efforts to secure a truce between Israel and Hamas had made some progress.

In a blow to Israel's economy and image, American aviation authorities extended a ban on U.S. flights to Tel Aviv for a second day, spooked by rocket salvoes out of the Gaza Strip, with many other global airlines also avoiding the Jewish state.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, speaking in Qatar, praised the group's fighters, whom he said had made gains against Israel and said he supported a humanitarian truce but a ceasefire would only be acceptable in exchange for easing Gazans' plight.

"Let's agree first on the demands and on implementing them and then we can agree on the zero hour for a ceasefire... We will not accept any proposal that does not lift the blockade... We do not desire war and we do not want it to continue but we will not be broken by it," he said.

Read more: http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/07/23/palestinians-israel-idINL6N0PY0Q220140723

[djean111]

1. It just seems to me that Israel will keep killing until no Palestinians are left, and the world

will just watch them.

[Purveyor]

2. No, they have to keep some around for continuous aid from the US taxpayer, amusement and cheap labor