Gaza toll hits 337 on day 12, UN chief heads to region

Israelis, especially in areas close to Gaza, too are spending sleepless nights as sirens wail all the time to warn them of rockets coming their way.

In Dimona, the town where Israel's nuclear reactor is located, a 32-year-old man was killed and three others wounded by a rocket barrage from Gaza Strip, Ynet reported. The death raised the Israeli toll to three.

The four, including a baby and a small boy, are all members of the same family from a local Bedouin community.

“It's impossible to live a normal life and do anything constructive when rockets keep falling in your vicinity. The Israeli anti-missile system has been very successful in intercepting rockets launched on residential areas so far but we still have to be on our toes all the time”, Danny, a youngster in Israel's fifth largest city Ashdod, told PTI.

Ashdod has been hit by several grad rockets, demonstrating that Hamas has improved striking capability covering almost all of Israel.

“It is a miracle that there haven't been many casualties in Israel but the conditions in the shelter houses are not human too. People have been taking the Home Front advice seriously which has saved many lives,” said another teenager Simhat.

More than 1400 rockets have been fired on Israel since the beginning of latest round of violence affecting almost half of the population.

UNRWA expressed concern at the deteriorating conditions in Gaza and called on warring parties to “respect international humanitarian law obligations.”

“We estimate that over 47,000 displaced people in Gaza have taken refuge with UNRWA. We have made available 43 of our installations, mainly schools,” said Chris Gunness, UN agency's spokesman, in a statement.

In Gaza, Palestinians have begun to flee their homes each time Israel issues warning of an impending bomb attack. The situation became grim after the launch of ground operation by Israelis forces on Thursday.

“There is acute shortage of food, water and electricity.  It is almost impossible to sleep during the nights due to heavy bombardment.

“Kids in my family are going through a trauma, wetting beds during the night, since a house was totally destroyed right behind ours”, Gaza teenager Karima told PTI.

Israelis, especially in areas close to Gaza, too are spending sleepless nights as sirens wail all the time to warn them of rockets coming their way.

In Dimona, the town where Israel's nuclear reactor is located, a 32-year-old man was killed and three others wounded by a rocket barrage from Gaza Strip, Ynet reported. The death raised the Israeli toll to three.

The four, including a baby and a small boy, are all members of the same family from a local Bedouin community.

“It's impossible to live a normal life and do anything constructive when rockets keep falling in your vicinity. The Israeli anti-missile system has been very successful in intercepting rockets launched on residential areas so far but we still have to be on our toes all the time”, Danny, a youngster in Israel's fifth largest city Ashdod, told PTI.

Ashdod has been hit by several grad rockets, demonstrating that Hamas has improved striking capability covering almost all of Israel.

“It is a miracle that there haven't been many casualties in Israel but the conditions in the shelter houses are not human too. People have been taking the Home Front advice seriously which has saved many lives,” said another teenager Simhat.

More than 1400 rockets have been fired on Israel since the beginning of latest round of violence affecting almost half of the population.