Amid growing international alarm over the number of Palestinian civilians killed during Israeli strikes, a seven-hour humanitarian cease-fire called by Israel went into force in the Gaza Strip, and collapsed a few hours after Israel bombed a house in Gaza City. Yet, the Israeli-announced "humanitarian window" limited to a few hours in the fighting has not improved any situation which was already deteriorated on the Gaza Strip. In the strike that resumes the fighting in Gaza, 15 people, mostly women and children, were wounded in Shati Camp, Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra told Reuters.
As Israel unilaterally declares a break in the fighting due to start at 9:00 a.m. local time (7:00 a.m. GMT), the Israeli announcement of a truce was met with greater suspicion by Hamas, claiming that the aim of the planned break cease-fire was to "divert attention from the Israeli massacres" in the Gaza Strip. "Israel's so-called humanitarian cease-fire is unilateral and it comes at a time when the Zionist enemy wants to distract the world from the massacres they have committed against our people in Gaza," Abu Zuhri told Hamas' Al Aqsa television station. "We don't trust their intentions and we ask our people to take extreme caution."
Monday's cease-fire was the eighth temporary pause since the launch of the deathly Israeli assault on Gaza. Due to violations that led to a breakdown of the truces, all these temporary truces have failed to provide a humanitarian window to many Palestinians who were in dire need of help. The Israeli army stated that it would "respond to any attempt to exploit this window to harm Israeli civilians and soldiers."
Israel announced that the truce would cover the entire enclave of the Gaza Strip while exempting the area east of the town of Rafah in southern Gaza, a focal point of fighting where the Israeli army continuously pounded the area in order to destroy cross-border Hamas tunnels. It is also where the Israeli army bombed a U.N.-run school on Sunday, and killed at least 10 people and injuring dozens more who had been seeking refuge from the violence.
The Israeli strike next to a U.N. school led to international shock and anger, as many leaders denounced Israeli actions in Gaza. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the latest Israeli strike as a "moral outrage and a criminal act," and "yet another gross violation of international humanitarian law, which clearly requires protection by both parties of Palestinian civilians, U.N. staff and U.N. premises, among other civilian facilities." The U.S. also condemned "disgraceful shelling outside a UNRWA school in Rafah" and stressed "the suspicion that militants are operating nearby does not justify strikes that put at risk the lives of so many innocent civilians," the U.S. State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki said in a press statement.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani described Israel's action on Gaza "as a genocidal massacre of Palestinians by Israel" while calling for the United Nations Security Council to take a solid action against Israel to put an end to the ongoing killing of innocent Palestinians. The Palestinian death toll has passed 1,800. Among them, according to U.N. reports, 330 children have been killed so far and at least 3,000 Palestinian families have sought to take refugee as their homes have been destroyed or damaged.
Meanwhile, as Israel incessantly strikes civilian casualties, a Palestinian mother gave birth to a quadruplet in Gaza under the heavy bombardment of Israel. The birth sparked happiness in the hospital and one of the witnesses, on his twitter post, said "despite mass Israeli killings, we are born again and again."
Names of 10 killed journalists; Names of 38 wounded journalists;
1 - Samih Aryan - El-Aksa TV
2 - Rami Reyyan - Palestine Media Web
3 - Ahid Zakkut - Palestine TV
4 - Bahaddin Gureyb - Palestine TV
5 - Muhammed Zahir - Risale Media Foundation
6 - İzzet el-Diheyr - Menbar el-Hurriye Radio
7 - Abdurrahman Ebu Hin - Book Channel
8 - Halit Hamad - Continue Production Company
9 - Hamid Şehab - Media24
10 - Necla el-Hac - Freelance Journalist
Names of 38 wounded journalists;
1 - Mahmud el-Kassas - Palestine Media Web
2 - Rıdvan eş-Şuveyki - El-Menar Agency
3 - Yakub Ebu Gulve - Freelance Photojournalist
4 - Mahmud el-Luh - Voice of People Radio
5 - Ziyad Avad - Freelance Journalist
6 - Mahmud Asamna - Freelance Journalist
7 - Ahmed el-İcla - El-Vatan Radio
8 - Tarık Hamdiye - El-Vatan Radio
9 - Esma el-Gul - The Monitor Webpage
10 - Muhammed Şebab - Vataniye Agency
11 - Kerim et-Terturi - Freelance Photojournalist
12 - Tevfik Hamid - Er-Ra'y Newspaper
13 - Sami Sabit - Palestine el-Yevm TV
14 - Midhat Ebu'l-Uyun - Media Channel, TV1 Channel, AFP
15 - Enes Ebu Muaylık - Anadolu Agency
16 - Metin Yüksel Kaya - Anadolu Agency
17 - Sabir Nureddin - German News Agency
18 - Ahmed el-Bediri - Palestine el-Yevm TV
19 - Ahmed Cabir - Palestine el-Yevm TV
20 - Velid Matar - Palestine el-Yevm TV
21 - Ben Wedeman - CNN Correspondent
22 - Arafat el-Cerade - Palestine TV
23 - Ala Bedrane - Radio 24
24 - Ali Dar Ali - Palestine TV
25 - Fadi el-Cuyusi - Palestine TV
26 - Faris el-Hatib - BBC Correspondent
27 - Emced Urfe - Freelance Photojournalist
28 - Nadir Baybars - Palestine TV
29 - Cihad Berekat - Palestine TV Correspondent
30 - Şadi Hatim - Palestine TV Kameramanı
31 - Mutez Sudani - Palestine TV Correspondent
32 - Zekeriya es-Salihi - Ajans Ramsat Correspondent
33 - Ziya el-Huşiye - el-Gad el-Arabi TV Channel Correspondent
34 - Muaz Meşal - Anadolu Agency
35 - Muhammed Hureyş - Radio Fanus Correspondent
36 - Sair Ebu Bekr - Palestine Official News Agency (WAFA)
37 - Bernard Svat - Swiss Journalist
38 - Rami el-Hatib - Freelance Journalist