Seven Palestinians were killed on Friday as Israel pressed on with its bloody offensive in Gaza and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas called on the international community to halt the deadly assault.
Israel waged fresh air and ground attacks on northern Gaza, one day after reoccupying land in the deadliest 24 hours in the territories for four years with 29 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier killed since Thursday.
Faced with mounting deaths and the worst Middle East crisis in months, Abbas urged the world to stop Israel's "inhumane aggression" to give mediators a chance to free a soldier, whose capture ignited the escalation 12 days ago.
Capping a day of attacks, Israeli forces killed a seventh Palestinian in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya when an Israeli helicopter gunship fired two missiles on a house, local medical and security sources said.
The targeted house was in a neighbourhood of Beit Lahiya that has been the scene of the fiercest fighting and attacks, where six other Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces exchanges of fire, air strikes and tank fire.
The Israeli military confirmed various aerial attacks and artillery bombardments throughout the day but were unable to confirm its latest air strike hit a house, saying missiles were fired only at "open areas".
{{/usCountry}}The Israeli military confirmed various aerial attacks and artillery bombardments throughout the day but were unable to confirm its latest air strike hit a house, saying missiles were fired only at "open areas".
{{/usCountry}}In the occupied West Bank, another Palestinian militant was shot dead in clashes with Israeli forces in Nablus, where radicals have threatened to unleash untold violence should Israel move further into Gaza.
"The world must stop this aggression and this innhumane invasion so that our efforts can get somewhere," Abbas told a news conference in Gaza City.