Israeli forces on Saturday pressed ahead with a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinian militants kept firing rockets deep into Israel’s heartland, pushing the death toll past 300 in almost two weeks of conflict.
Palestinian officials said 65 Palestinians, at least 15 of them under the age of 18, have been killed since Israel sent ground forces on Thursday into the densely populated enclave of 1.8 million Palestinians.
During that time, more than 135 rockets have been fired from Gaza, though many were shot down by Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defence shield, including some over the country’s commercial capital Tel Aviv, causing no casualties.
The Israeli military said it killed 17 Palestinian gunmen while 21 others surrendered and were taken for questioning after the infantry and tank assault began in the territory dominated by the Islamist Hamas.
One Israeli soldier was killed in an apparent friendly fire incident, the military said, and several other troops were wounded in the ground operations. It said some 240 targets, including 21 concealed rocket launchers and 10 tunnels, have been attacked.
