100 Gazans die in maniacal strikes

GAZA CITY: Israel on Tuesday unleashed its heaviest bombardment in a 3-week-old war against Hamas, striking symbols of the group’s control in Gaza and firing tank shells that Palestinian officials said shut down the strip’s only power plant. The station’s shutdown further disrupted the supply of electricity and water to the 1.7 million people packed into the narrow Palestinian coastal territory. More than 100 bodies were brought to Gaza morgues on Tuesday after savage Israeli fire, bringing the number of Palestinians killed in the 22-day assault to over 1,200. Israel stepped up its artillery fire on Monday night, especially in central Gaza’s Bureij refugee camp, spreading in the afternoon to Jabaliya in the north and Rafah in the south. The Israeli Army said troops killed five militants in a Gaza tunnel. Fifty-six lives have been lost on the Israeli side, including 53 soldiers, although Hamas maintains it killed over 100 Zionist soldiers. The heavy strikes — which came a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of a “prolonged” campaign against Hamas — were a new blow to international efforts to reach a sustainable truce in the fighting. Israeli warplanes carried out dozens of attacks, leveling the home of the top Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, and damaging the offices of the movement’s Al-Aqsa satellite TV station, a central mosque in Gaza City and government offices. Chile’s government is summoning its ambassador home from Tel Aviv for consultations and is condemning the worsening of Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip. The foreign affairs ministry said Tuesday that Jorge Montero will return to Santiago soon. Meanwhile, Democratic and Republican members of Congress are scrambling to seal a $225 million boost to Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system before they break this week for a month-long recess. But the House and Senate are at odds over process. AFP