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                  Netanyahu Warns Gazans to Leave Hamas Sites

   by VOA News

   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned residents of the
   Gaza Strip to leave any site where Palestinian militants are operating,
   saying the locations could be attacked.

   Netanyahu's warning ccame Sunday, a day after an Israeli airstrike
   flattened a 13-story Gaza apartment building, that Gaza residents
   should "vacate immediately" every site from which Hamas is carrying out
   what he called "terrorist" activity.

   More than 2,100 Palestinians have been killed since the violence
   erupted July 8, including close to 500 children.  Israel has lost 64
   soldiers and four civilians.

   UNICEF issued a statement Saturday calling on the fighting parties to
   protect civilians, especially children, as required by international
   law.

   U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon discussed the crisis in Gaza with
   Netanyahu Saturday. Ban stressed the importance of establishing a
   "durable cease-fire" with a view to resume "meaningful negotiations on
   a two-state solution."

   The Israeli military said it warned the residents of the multi-story
   building to leave shortly before launching the attack that wounded
   nearly 20 people.

   In another Israeli airstrike Saturday, a seven-story office building
   was destroyed.  Israel said the building housed Hamas offices.

   On Sunday, an Israeli air strike killed at least two Palestinians on a
   motorcycle in Gaza.

   Elsewhere Sunday, rocket fire from Syrian territory fell in open areas
   of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.  There were no immediate reports
   of casualties, and it was not clear who fired the rockets.

   Egypt has urged Israelis and Palestinians to accept a permanent
   cease-fire and return to indirect talks in Cairo as the two sides
   continue bombarding each other.

   The call from Egypt's Foreign Ministry came after Palestinian President
   Mahmoud Abbas met Saturday in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel
   Fattah el-Sissi and senior officials of the Arab League.

   Palestinian officials say they will consider the appeal for
   cease-fire.  Israel has not yet responded.

   The Israeli army said about 100 rockets were fired from Gaza Saturday.
   An Israeli army intelligence officer estimates that Hamas has about
   2,000 short-range rockets and dozens of mid-range rockets left, which
   is less than a third of what it had before the fighting started in
   July.

   At least one rocket was fired on Israel from Lebanon late Saturday.  It
   hit a house in northern Israel, wounding several people.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/netanyahu-warns-gazans-to-leave-hamas-sites/2426171.html