Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon on
Saturday spoke of "achievements" and the
destruction of "significant targets" in his
country's airstrikes against Hamas targets in
Gaza. But on the ground in Gaza, sources talked with
CNN not about military targets, but about
hospitals pushed to the brink, dead or distressed
children, and airstrikes that struck water
infrastructure. "No one is talking about the Palestinian civilians.
When you bring up this story, no one is ready to
listen," a Hamas spokesman, Osama Hamdan, told
CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "But when it came to Israelis,
everyone is taking care and everyone is talking." Though a full-scale invasion has not occurred,
Israeli military forces went into Gaza for half an
hour early Sunday and raided a long-range
missile launching site, an Israeli military source
told CNN. Gunfire was exchanged and four Israeli soldiers
were "lightly injured," the source said, adding
that the mission was accomplished. The death toll from the airstrikes on Gaza this
week has topped 160, Ashraf al-Qidra, a
spokesman for the Gaza Health Ministry, said
early Sunday. More than 1,100 people have been
injured. On Saturday, at least 23 people were killed in
Israeli airstrikes, said security and medical
sources in Gaza. An official at Shifa Hospital told
CNN that the morgue there was now full. One airstrike targeted the house of the head of
the Gaza police, Tayseer al-Batsh, and killed at
least 15 people and injured an unknown number
of others, security sources in Gaza told CNN. Aqsa
TV showed rescuers frantically digging for
survivors. The airstrikes hit the house, which is next to a
mosque. The sources say that some of the
casualties had been in evening prayers at the
mosque. And, an Israeli airstrike hit a facility housing the
disabled, killing two women, the health ministry
said Saturday. Israel Defense Forces said it was
looking into that claim. Four Israeli airstrikes hit the Arafat Police
complex in Gaza city early Sunday, shaking
nearby buildings, including the offices of CNN and
other media. The Israeli military is telling residents of northern
Gaza to evacuate their homes for their own
safety, CNN correspondent Ben Wedemen
reported Saturday. Israel Defense Forces says it uses phone calls and drops empty shells on roofs -- what it calls "roof knocking" -- to warn civilians that airstrikes are
imminent. Concerns about a ground invasion by Israeli
forces are growing. The U.N. Security Council on
Saturday called for a de-escalation and cease-fire
between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants,
the 15-member group said in a statement. Israel's stated mission is to get Hamas
militants to stop firing rockets into
Israel, something that has not
happened. Even after days of
bombardments from Israeli jets, more
than 36 rockets were fired from Gaza on Saturday, and the sun had not even
set. Two of those rockets were intercepted
by Israeli air defense, and 34 struck
Israel. The IDF said at least two rockets
fired from Lebanon hit open areas north
of coastal Nahariya, but no damage or
injuries were reported. Israel asserts its right to defend itself,
and so far the Hamas rockets have
caused no deaths. "Achievements are accumulating in
terms of the price that Hamas is paying,
and we are continuing to destroy
significant targets belonging to Hamas
and other terrorist organizations,"
Ya'alon said. "Hamas is suffering from severe blows and is causing severe
damage to its people." Hamas frames the current conflict as a
defensive fight. "What about the right for the
Palestinians to protect themselves to
protect their people?" Hamdan said.
"The international solution is asking
Israel to leave but they're not doing
that."