Palestinian Death Toll Rises as Israel Presses Onslaught

By Fares Akram, Jodi Rudoren and Alan Cowell, NY Times, November 19, 2012 GAZA CITY—After a night of sustained Israeli strikes by air and sea and a morning of rocket attacks on Israel, the Health Ministry here said on Monday the Palestinian death toll in six days of conflict had risen to 91 with 700 wounded, including 200 children as the assault ground on unrelentingly despite efforts toward a ceasefire. The casualties—19 people reported killed since midnight local time—included Palestinians killed in strikes by warplanes and a drone attack on two men on a motorcycle. Another drone attack killed the driver of a taxi hired by journalists and displaying ‘Press” signs, although it was not clear which journalists hired it, Palestinian officials said. On Sunday, Israeli forces attacked two buildings housing local broadcasters and production companies used by foreign outlets, but Israeli officials denied targeting journalists. An Israeli bomb pummeled a home deep into the ground here on Sunday, killing 11 people, including nine in three generations of a single family, in the deadliest single strike in six days of cross-border conflict. Members of the family were buried Monday in a rite that turned into a gesture of defiance and a rally supporting Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers. A militant leader said Tel Aviv in the Israeli heartland would be hit “over and over” and warned Israelis that their leaders were misleading them and would “take them to hell.” The airstrikes further indicated that Israel was striking a wide range of targets. Three Israelis have been killed and at least 79 wounded by continued rocket fire into southern Israel and as far north as Tel Aviv.