Gaza 'Is Living In A Disaster Situation'

By Katie Stallard, Sky News Correspondent, in Gaza

The first ambulance came in at speed, tyres squealing.

Inside, was a 10-year-old boy.

They rushed him to the emergency ward, but there was nothing they could do to save his life.

We saw other children being brought in - a little girl, maybe five years old, carried in a paramedic's arms.

An ambulance brings a child to Gaza's Shifa Hospital

She looked absolutely terrified.

The doctors told us they treated a six-month-old baby for shrapnel wounds to the head.

We saw an 80-year-old woman, clearly very frail and confused and clearly seriously injured.

"Gaza is living in a disaster situation," said Dr Sobhi Skaik at Shifa Hospital.

"Again the war is coming to kill and kill and kill.

"Today is the 33rd day of this massacre in Gaza. This is inhuman and it has to be stopped."

Dr Sobhu Skaik tends to an injured 80-year-old woman

He said they need basic supplies now - surgical instruments, drugs, medication, and expertise - specifically vascular, orthopaedic and neurosurgeons.

One of the ambulances pulling up outside had blast damage to the windscreen and a bullet hole in the side.

Six medics have been killed in Gaza so far.

Paramedic Ahmed Abu-Ali said: "We feel we are targeted in any minute.

"All medical teams are now afraid they are targeted, it's very hard now.

"We wake up every day and we don't know if we are coming back to our homes or not."

We saw outgoing rockets too.

Although Hamas has not admitted firing any rockets since the ceasefire ended, Islamic Jihad and other smaller militant groups have said they fired on Israel.

But Israel says Hamas violated the ceasefire, and therefore Hamas is responsible for any resulting harm to the residents Gaza, who, it says, are being used as human shields.

But it's difficult to explain that argument to a parent carrying their child into the emergency ward.

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Israel Denies Targeting Hospitals In Gaza Strip

Israel has denied deliberately targeting hospitals or civilians in Gaza as a three-day truce ended in more bloodshed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government said it is targeting "terror sites across the Gaza Strip" in response to Hamas rocket attacks.

A 10-year-old Palestinian boy was killed and five other boys injured in an airstrike near a mosque in Gaza City, according to doctors in the area.

At least 30 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel since the truce ended at 6am UK time, Israeli army officials say.

A rocket that hit the Sdot Negev regional council injured a civilian and a soldier, the Israeli military tweeted.

Earlier, Amnesty International claimed it has evidence that Israel's military forces have specifically targeted hospitals, health workers and ambulance personnel during the conflict.

However, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told Sky News: "We don't target hospitals, we don't target civilians."

He added: "What we've had to do on a number of occasions is to hit terrorist targets in the immediate vicinity of hospitals and things like that, where they've abused them.

"And what you've seen is there's a whole series of reports coming out of Gaza from journalists across the planet - not Israeli journalists, Canadians, Finns, Indian journalists and others - who have all reported that Hamas has got this systematic pattern of behaviour where they deliberately abuse humanitarian structures to shoot their rockets at Israel.

Palestinians leave their homes in Gaza City following Israeli attacks

"So actually if they're turning these humanitarian sites into warzones, they should be accountable."

He said Hamas "threw away the chance" to extend the ceasefire and Israel waited six hours before striking back.

Thousands of Palestinians are fleeing their homes in north and east Gaza as Mr Netanyahu ordered "forceful retaliation".

Sky's Katie Stallard, in Gaza City, heard two loud explosions and Israeli F16 fighters overhead.

Israeli tanks also fired into northern Gaza and Israeli gunboats targeted the central area of the strip, according to reports.

Delegates from Israel have left talks in Cairo with Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) on stopping the bloodshed.

The month-long violence, punctuated by brief periods of truce, has killed nearly 1,900 Palestinians, while Israel has lost 64 soldiers and three civilians.

UN figures indicate that 73% of the Palestinian victims, 1,354 people, were civilians.

Of that number, at least 429 were children.

As the conflict continued, a Gaza teenager and Israeli teacher - both living under threat of bombardment in the region's ongoing conflict - have taken part in a passionate Google Hangout discussion on Sky News.

Farah Baker and Adele Raemer tackled controversial issues including allegations that Hamas uses civilians as human shields and Israel's shelling of UN schools used as shelters by Palestinian children.

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Ebola Outbreak: First Case Treated In Europe

A Spanish missionary priest infected with ebola has become the first person to be treated in Europe during the deadly outbreak which has hit West Africa.

Miguel Pajares, who contracted it while helping ebola patients at a hospital in the Liberian capital Monrovia, is in hospital in Madrid after being flown in from Liberia.

The disease has killed at least 932 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria since it first emerged in remote tropical forests earlier this year.

A specially equipped military Airbus A310 brought Mr Pajares, 75, to the Torrejon airbase along with a Spanish nun, Juliana Bonoha Bohe.

Miguel Pajares is placed in an ambulance at the Torrejon airbase

She had worked at the same Liberian hospital but did not test positive for ebola.

Immediately after landing, ambulances took the pair to Carlos III Hospital, which specialises in tropical diseases, and they were kept in isolation.

The priest was stable and showed no sign of bleeding while the nun appeared to be well but would be re-tested for ebola just in case, health officials said.

The priest was taken to hospital in the Spanish capital

Meanwhile, Britain is committing another £3m on top of £2m already pledged to Sierra Leone and Liberia which will allow charities to increase specialist care and improve monitoring of the disease.

A state of emergency has been declared in Liberia where bodies lay in streets, with passers-by too scared to touch or help them.

Bodies lay in Liberian streets with passers-by too scared to touch them

In Sierra Leone, troops were sent to guard hospitals and clinics handling ebola cases.

Two Americans who worked for Christian aid agencies in Liberia and were infected with ebola while taking care of patients in Monrovia were recently flown to the US for treatment.

The priest and nun have been transported to Carlos III hospital in Madrid

They have shown signs of improvement after being given an experimental US-developed drug known as ZMapp, which is difficult to produce on a large scale.

Nigeria is holding out hope that it could receive ZMapp - a drug which is proving controversial as it not being made available to victims in Africa.

There is growing pressure on the World Health Organisation to sanction the use of such drugs in Africa.

The patients were surrounded by medical staff

But US President Barack Obama said it was too soon to send ZMapp to the continent, adding: "We've got to let the science guide us."

He said: "I don't think all the information is in on whether this drug is helpful."

Ebola - which has a mortality rate of up to 90% - cannot spread through airborne or waterborne methods, say experts.

It is transmitted primarily through contact with bodily fluids such as saliva, blood, urine and other secretions.

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WHO Under Pressure To Support New Ebola Drug

Ebola Cure 'A Long Way Off': Facts About Virus

Updated: 12:08am UK, Thursday 07 August 2014

A cure for the deadly ebola virus, which has killed hundreds of people in West Africa, is "a very long way off", an expert has told Sky News.

David Evans, a professor of virology at Warwick University, said ebola is the latest disease to be transmitted "very efficiently" because of international travel.

More than 670 people in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria have fallen victim to the viral illness, which has a fatality rate of up to 90%.

Those with ebola will often be overcome by a sudden onset of fever, as well as weakness, muscle pain and headaches.

The body is then gripped by vomiting, diarrhoea, rashes, kidney and liver problems and bleeding.

The time between infection and symptoms appearing is anything from two days to three weeks.

Ebola is spread through the direct contact with the blood, organs or other bodily fluids of those infected.

The liquid that bathes the eye and semen can transmit the disease, Prof Evans said.

Horseshoe bats are believed to be the natural host of the viral disease, he said.

"These bats transmit the virus between themselves, but periodically it then ends up in probably primates or other types of bushmeat which are then hunted by villagers and the virus is then transmitted from the sick animals to humans," he said.

Transmission has also been documented through the handling of chimpanzees, gorillas and porcupines.

One of the reasons for the disease's rapid spread is a tradition at burial ceremonies for mourners to have direct contact with the body of the deceased.

"Therefore barrier methods that prevent that direct contact, including things like washing of hands and things like that provide a reasonable level of protection," he said.

Healthcare workers treating patients are particularly at risk.

Public Health England said in a risk assessment published earlier this month said that the current outbreak could increase the risk for Britons working in humanitarian and healthcare delivery.

But the threat to tourists, visitors and expatriates is still considered "very low if elementary precautions are followed".

Prof Evans said there had been "periodic outbreaks" of ebola since the first recorded instances in 1976, but this is the deadliest so far.

There were two simultaneous outbreaks in Nzara, Sudan and Yambuku, a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo located near the Ebola River.

Data from the World Health Organisation shows the previous deadliest outbreak was the one in the DRC, when 280 out of 315 people infected died.

In the same country in 1995 another outbreak claimed 254 lives, with 315 patients infected.

In 2000, there were 425 cases in Uganda and 224 people died.

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Obama: Ebola Drug ZMapp 'Not Ready For Africa'

It is too soon to send an experimental drug to Africa to treat the deadly ebola virus, according to Barack Obama.

Two Americans are already receiving the ZMapp drug in the US, but the President said efforts should focus on improving facilities and sending more aid workers to the region.

"We've got to let the science guide us," the US President said.

"I don't think all the information is in on whether this drug is helpful. What we do know is that the ebola virus - both currently and in the past - is controllable if you have strong public health infrastructure in place."

"Let's get all the health workers that we need on the ground,"  he added. "Let's help to bolster the systems that they already have in place.

"During the course of that process, I think it's entirely appropriate for us to see if there are additional drugs or medical treatments (that can help)."

Nigeria's health minister, Onyenbuchi Chukwu, told reporters he had asked the US about accessing the experimental drug, ZMapp.

However, there are "virtually no doses available", according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As debate over the drug continues, people are continuing to die in West Africa, with Liberia's president declaring a state of emergency.

Another 45 people died between August 2 and 4, with another 108 suspected cases identified, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Dr Brantly reportedly improved after taking ZMapp. Pic: Samaritans Purse

The death toll now stands at 932.

Most of the new cases were in Liberia, where the president said he might have to limit some freedoms.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has convened a panel of experts to explore the use of experimental treatments and will announce a plan to deal with the virus on Friday.

ZMapp, made by a company in San Diego, is being used to treat American aid workers Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol.

Ebola treatment facilities are ready at London's Royal Free Hospital

The pair improved after being given the drug while still in Liberia, according to the group they were working for, but it is unclear whether the drug was responsible.

ZMapp has never been tested on humans and was only identified as a possible treatment in January after research by the US government and the military.

"This is an emergency compassionate use situation," Professor Erica Ollman Saphire, from the Scripps Research Institute, told Sky News.

"This is not a well-controlled laboratory study. A lot of work remains to be done on how it worked and why, and how quickly."

Experiments on monkeys suggest ZMapp may reduce fatalities in infected people.

It is slow to produce however, and the antibodies have to be grown in specially-modified tobacco leaves.

Symptoms of the incurable virus include fever, vomiting, severe headaches, muscular pain and, as the patient nears the end, profuse bleeding.

It is transmitted via bodily fluids rather than through the air and has a mortality rate of 60-90%.

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Final Arguments Due As Pistorius Trial Resumes

The Oscar Pistorius murder trial resumes today, with the prosecution and defence delivering their all-important closing statements.

State prosecutor Gerrie Nel will be first to say why he believes Pistorius is guilty of shooting dead his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, after an argument.

Defence lawyer Barry Roux will then present Pistorius' version of events; that the killing was a terrible accident as the paranoid athlete mistook Ms Steenkamp for an intruder.

Lawyer Barry Roux (right) will sum up for the defence

Pistorius, 27, faces a minimum 25 years behind bars if found guilty of premeditated murder on Valentine's Day last year.

He could also be convicted on lesser charges, such as culpable homicide or murder without premeditation.

Ms Steenkamp's mother and sisters at the Pretoria trial

The trial in Pretoria was put on hold last month after hearing from 37 witnesses.

Judge Thokozile Masipa will decide Pistorius' fate with help from two legal assistants - there is no trial by jury in South Africa.

This week's hearing will last two days before she adjourns the case to consider the verdict.

Paralympian Pistorius has repeatedly vomited and cried during the five-month long trial, with Ms Steenkamp's mother watching him impassively from the public gallery.

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US General Killed In Afghan 'Insider Attack'

An American two-star general has been killed and 15 others injured, including two Britons and a senior German officer, in a shooting at a military academy in Afghanistan.

The suspected insider attack was carried out by a man dressed in an Afghan military uniform at the Marshal Fahim National Defense University in Kabul.

The shooting happened during a high-level visit by Nato officers.

US Army Major General Harold Greene was killed in the attack, making him the highest-ranking member of the American military to be killed in the Iraq or Afghanistan wars.

Maj Gen Harold Greene. Pic: US Army

Pentagon spokesman, Rear Admiral John Kirby, also said the two-star general was the highest-ranking US officer to have been killed since the 9/11 attacks when Lieutenant General Timothy Joseph Maude was killed by a hijacked plane that crashed into the Pentagon.

Rear Adm Kirby said the gunman was also killed in the attack.

"We believe that the assailant was an Afghan soldier," he added.

Roughly half of those wounded in the attack were Americans.

Rear Adm Kirby said "many were seriously wounded, while others received only minor injuries".

Fifteen people were also wounded in the attack

Germany's ministry of defence also confirmed the German brigadier general was among those wounded.

He has been flown to a US base in Bagram, where he is receiving medical treatment for injuries that were not life threatening, the German military said.

The Ministry of Defence said the two UK service personnel were being treated for injuries.

Afghanistan's Defence Ministry said a "terrorist in an army uniform" opened fire on both local and international troops.

Reports suggest an argument between some Afghans and an Afghan soldier prompted the shooting.

Initial reports that the shooting occurred at a British-run military academy Camp Qargha were inaccurate, the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said.

An Isaf spokesman said: "We are in the process of assessing the situation. More information will be released as we sort out the facts."

The number of insider attacks, also known as "green on blue attacks" - where Afghan troops turn on Isaf partners - has dropped in the last year.

In 2013, there were 16 deaths in 10 separate attacks. Similar attacks killed 53 Isaf troops in 38 attacks in 2012.

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Israel-Hamas Ceasefire As Troops Exit Gaza

A three-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appears to be holding as Israeli ground troops are withdrawn to "defensive positions" on the border.

Tuesday saw the longest lull in fighting since the almost four-week conflict began, with both sides seemingly observing the terms of an Egyptian-brokered truce.

Some of the 440,000 Palestinians displaced by the fighting were able to make the trek from UN-run shelters back home to survey the damage.

Palestinians crowd into an ice cream shop as the truce comes into effect

Shops and local businesses also gradually reopened as confidence grew that the ceasefire was holding.

The truce began at 8am local time (6am UK time) and follows six previous ceasefire attempts which have all been marked by allegations from both sides of continued attacks.

But aerial assaults were put on hold as Israel's ground offensive, aimed at destroying Hamas' network of cross-border tunnels, also drew to a close.

Civilians could return to the streets of Gaza to enjoy the lull in fighting

Israel says its troops and tanks were redeployed in "defensive positions" near the border.

Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said the move came after the last of 32 tunnels located inside Gaza was destroyed overnight.

"Today we completed the removal of this threat," he said.

There was a rapid exchange of fire in the minutes leading up to the truce, with Hamas militants launching rockets over the border and Israeli warplanes carrying out airstrikes.

An Israeli soldier carries his gear after returning to Israel from Gaza

Hamas claimed the rockets were launched in retaliation for Israel's "massacres".

Israel's anti-missile system shot down one rocket over Jerusalem, while another struck a house in a town near Bethlehem.

Israeli warplanes also carried out at least five airstrikes before the ceasefire took hold and the skies fell silent.

Tuesday's ceasefire deal followed lengthy negotiations in Cairo attended by a Palestinian delegation, but shunned by Israel.

An Israeli delegation has now arrived in Egypt to join indirect talks aimed at thrashing out a more lasting deal.

Hamas has demanded Israel withdraw from Gaza and end a blockade of the territory.

It has also called for its prisoners to be released and for international assistance in rebuilding Gaza.

Bassam Salhi, a member of the Palestinian delegation, admitted brokering a peace deal which satisfies both sides will prove difficult.

"It's going to be tough negotiations because Israel has demands too," he said.

More than 20 Palestinians were killed on Monday, including an eight-year-old girl who died in an Israeli airstrike on a refugee camp in Gaza City, just minutes into a seven-hour partial truce.

Jerusalem, meanwhile, was rocked by two attacks which appeared to be in retaliation for violence in the Gaza Strip.

The driver of a digger was shot dead after hitting a bus, killing one person, in what Israel described as a "terrorist attack".

Palestinians returned their things to the remains of their destroyed homes

Several hours later a gunman shot and wounded an Israeli soldier before escaping on a motorbike.

Israel launched its military operation on July 8 with the stated intention of ending "persistent" Hamas rocket attacks.

It subsequently launched a ground offensive aimed at destroying cross-border Hamas tunnels, an objective Israel says it has now achieved.

More than 1,880 Palestinians and 64 Israeli soldiers have lost their lives since the conflict began. Two Israeli civilians and a Thai labourer working in Israel have also died.

Meanwhile, Foreign Office Minister Baroness Warsi has resigned saying she can no longer support the UK Government's stance on Gaza.

Lady Warsi, who is also Minister for Faith and Communities, announced her departure on Twitter, where she has been increasingly vocal in her condemnation of Israel's actions.

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Digger Topples Bus In Israel 'Terror Attack'

Key Dates In The Gaza-Israel Conflict

Updated: 10:36am UK, Monday 04 August 2014

Israel's ground offensive in the Gaza Strip continues with forces attempting to destroy Hamas' weapons arsenal and rocketing-firing capabilities.

Here are the key events from the fighting that preceded and have followed Israel's operation:

:: July 8 - Israel launches "Operation Protective Edge" in a bid to quell near-daily militant rocket attacks in the aftermath of the abduction and killing of a Palestinian teenager in what appeared to be a revenge attack for the seizure and slaying of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank in June.

:: July 9 - Hamas rockets rain deep into Israel as the military pummels Palestinian targets. The military says 74 rockets landed in Israel, including in the northern city of Hadera, the deepest rocket strike ever from Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Hamas will pay a "heavy price".

:: July 10 - Israel intensifies its bombardment. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urges an immediate ceasefire but neither side shows much interest in halting the fighting.

:: July 11 - Mr Netanyahu vows to press forward with a broad military offensive. The Israeli military says it has hit more than 1,100 targets, mostly rocket-launching sites, while Palestinian militants fired more than 600 rockets at Israel. The Lebanese military says militants there fired three rockets toward Israel and the Israelis retaliated with about 25 artillery shells.

:: July 12 - Gaza City becomes a virtual ghost town as streets empty, shops close and hundreds of thousands of people keep close to home. The death toll rises to more than 156 Palestinians after more than 1,200 Israeli air strikes.

:: July 13 - Israel widens its campaign, targeting civilian institutions with suspected Hamas ties, and briefly deploys ground troops inside Gaza to raid a rocket launching site. Four Israeli soldiers are hurt during the brief incursion. Egypt, a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, continues to work behind the scenes.

:: July 14 - Israel says it's downed an unmanned drone along its southern coastline. Egypt presents a cease-fire plan that is praised by President Barack Obama at a White House dinner celebrating the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

:: July 15 - Israeli Cabinet accepts Egypt's truce plan, halting fire for six hours but Hamas rejects the proposal, instead unleashing more rockets at Israel and prompting Israel to resume heavy bombardment. Rocket fire kills an Israeli man delivering food to soldiers, the first Israeli fatality in the fighting. Four Gaza boys, all cousins, are killed on a beach by shells fired from a navy ship.

:: July 16 - Hamas fires dozens of rockets into Israel, vowing not to agree to a ceasefire until its demands are met. The Gaza Interior Ministry's website says Israeli warplanes carried out dozens of airstrikes, targeting 30 houses, including those of four senior Hamas leaders. Later, both Israel and Hamas agree to a five-hour UN brokered "humanitarian" pause to start the following day.

:: July 17 - both sides trade fire in run-up to the brief truce, which Gazans use to restock on food and other supplies. Israel says it foiled an attack by 13 Gaza militants who infiltrated through a tunnel. Fierce fighting resumes after the truce expires, including an airstrike that kills three Palestinian children. After nightfall, the Israeli military launches a ground invasion into Gaza Strip.

:: July 18 - eight members of the same Palestinian family - two men, two women and four children - are killed by Israeli tank fire as the ground offensive to date claims the lives of 51 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier.

:: July 19 - Mr Ban says he wants to meet both sides to try to secure a truce as Israel pledges to step up its ground offensive. Hamas says its fighters are "behind enemy lines" as security alerts are triggered in southern Israel.

:: July 20 - Fresh airstrikes, artillery shelling and gun battles overnight kill 12 Palestinians and two more Israeli soldiers, as Israel intensifies its ground offensive in Gaza. Israeli minister Naftali Bennett defends the ground offensive in Gaza and accuses Hamas of "self-genocide" by using women and children as human shields.

:: July 21 - another airstrike kills 26 members of the same family, while seven more Israeli soldiers die in gun battles with Hamas fighters. Thirty of those wounded in the attack are reportedly medical staff.

:: July 22 - the Palestinian leadership proposes a ceasefire plan to mediators in Egypt which would be followed by five days of negotiations to stop the fighting which has claimed the lives of more than 600 Palestinians, many of them women and children, and 29 Israelis, including 27 soldiers.

:: July 23 - an international inquiry into Israel's actions in Gaza is launched, after the UN's Human Rights Commissioner says there is a "strong possibility" the country is guilty of war crimes. Several major airlines from the US, Europe and Canada suspend flights to and from Israel after a rocket fired from Gaza lands near Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion international airport.

:: July 24 - British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond warns Mr Netanyahu the West is losing sympathy for Israel amid the rising number of civilian deaths during its offensive in Gaza, as international efforts to end the conflict intensify. However, hopes of an effective ceasefire quickly diminish after Israel vows to continue hunting Palestinian cross-border tunnels under any humanitarian truce, while Hamas also rejects a truce without the lifting of Israel's eight-year blockade of Gaza.

:: July 26 - the number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza offensive reaches 1,000, according to the territory's health ministry. Meanwhile, Israel agrees to extend a temporary humanitarian ceasefire for a further day.

:: July 27 - Hamas agrees to a 24-hour temporary truce ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid.

:: July 28 - the UN Security Council calls for an "immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire" in Gaza following an emergency session in New York. Both sides criticise the presidential statement, which is one step below a legally-binding resolution.

:: July 30 - a reported 128 Palestinians die in the bloodiest day of the three-week conflict. One attack, on the Jebalya refugee camp, provokes international condemnation, with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon saying there is "nothing more shameful than attacking sleeping children".

:: July 31 - the UN says the total number of displaced people in Gaza now stands at 440,000.

:: August 1 - the Israeli army says 23-year-old Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin has been kidnapped as a three-day ceasefire collapses within minutes.

:: August 2 - tanks and troops begin withdrawing from some parts of the Gaza Strip as an army spokesman says Israel is "quite close to completing" the destruction of Hamas' tunnels.

:: August 3 - Israel confirms missing soldier Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin died in combat.

:: August 3 - Ban Ki-moon describes an apparent Israeli airstrike on a UN school-turned-shelter in Rafah as a "moral outrage and a criminal act". The US says it is "appalled" by reports of a "disgraceful shelling" in which 10 casualties are reported.

:: August 4 - Israel begins a seven-hour humanitarian truce but is immediately accused of breaching it with an attack on a refugee camp in Gaza City.

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Israel And Hamas Agree To 72-Hour Truce

The Battle To Win The War And Keep The Peace

Updated: 5:07pm UK, Monday 04 August 2014

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

Israeli tanks chew through the rubble at Rafah. Another child is killed. Some ceasefire. Some war.

For all the bluster and public relations stunts attached to several 'humanitarian truces', the claims to be the 'most moral army in the world', and the blaming of Hamas for deliberately getting fellow Palestinians killed, the Israel Defence Forces prosecute conflict with a bald honesty.

The purpose of war is to bend an enemy's will to one's own.

It's about smashing and maiming, dismemberment and mass grief.

When the threat is perceived as existential, it's conducted without rules but with great deliberation.

The firebombing of Dresden and the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki targeted women and children, the innocent, their homes, parks and pets - on purpose.

The Allies intended to break the will of the Axis powers utterly.

And that is the intent of the Israelis in Gaza.

The aim of the IDF is officially to 'dismantle the military capacity of Hamas (and other militant groups)'. It is to rid Israel of the threat posed by Gaza's rocket arsenal, and of its tunnel network with its tentacles that extend inside Israel.

The vast majority of Palestinian casualties, now numbering more than 1,700, are civilians, and many of them are women and children.

Israel's 'pinpoint accurate' munitions have been used to target hospitals and United Nations schools housing thousands of refugees with monotonous regularity.

It is true that Hamas has stored weapons in schools, fired rockets from close to playgrounds and hospitals, and used mosques as combat operations rooms.

Nonetheless Israel has come in for some bitter criticism from long-time ally the United States, from the United Nations, which the Israelis see as a hostile entity, and now from France.

On Monday French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called for a political solution to be "imposed" by the international community in the Gaza conflict.

"How many more deaths will it take to stop what must be called the carnage in Gaza?" Mr Fabius stormed.

"The tradition of friendship between Israel and France is an old one and Israel's right to security is total, but this right does not justify the killing of children and the slaughter of civilians."

The cold truth is that Mr Fabius has missed the point here.

Israel sees itself engaged in a near-perpetual existential struggle against Palestinian militants, especially Hamas, which is committed to the destruction of the 'Zionist entity'.

Israelis are generally horrified and outraged by any suggestion that civilians are deliberately targeted by the IDF which, they point out, regularly conducts investigations into the actions of its forces when they are accused of egregious killing.

But Israel's tactical aims are clear.

To crush Hamas and to send a clear message to Gazans that their future does not rest with the militant group.

The IDF has used devastating force to deliver that message and to try to wreck Hamas' military and civil structures.

And the Israeli government enjoys overwhelming support for the way that Operation Protective Edge has been conducted.

It accepts that war is not a sport.

But does not, yet, appear to comprehend that in Gaza Israel may have won another battle but is very far from winning the war - much less the peace it so craves.

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Israel To Hold Fire During 7-Hour Gaza Truce

Israel has declared a seven-hour humanitarian truce beginning on Monday morning in most of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military said it will hold fire from 10am (8am UK time) to 5pm (3pm UK time) to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid and for displaced Palestinians to return to their homes - but would fight back if attacked.

The truce would not apply in areas of the southern Gazan town of Rafah where Israeli forces are involved in ongoing clashes, a Defence Ministry official said in a statement.

The announcement comes after the United Nations strongly criticised a third deadly missile strike on a UN school sheltering Palestinians, saying Israel was "repeatedly informed of the location of these sites".

The attack in Rafah on Sunday left 10 civilians dead and wounded another 30, bringing the total Palestinian death toll to more than 1,770.

Palestinians carry an injured man after a strike on a UN school

The Israeli military confirmed it had fired on a terrorist target in the vicinity of the school and was "reviewing the consequences of this strike".

Meanwhile, Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner announced the bulk of ground troops had now pulled out of Gaza.

He said the military had caused "substantial damage" to a network of tunnels, which Israel cited as justification for expanding its operation in the territory to include a ground offensive.

Lt Col Lerner emphasised, however, that the operation was not over.

Some Israeli ground troops have reportedly withdrawn from Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had warned he was prepared to continue the offensive for as long as it took to return his citizens to safety.

At least 30 Palestinians were killed in multiple strikes on Sunday, although it was the attack on the UN-run school that was the focus of international condemnation.

Just days before more than a dozen Palestinians died in an attack on a school-turned-shelter in Jabalya. Another 19 people died at a school in Beit Hanoun last week.

The United States said it was "appalled" by the latest reports of a "disgraceful shelling" of a UN school.

While not directly attributing blame, the State Department called on Israel to do more to "meet its own standards and avoid civilian casualties".

Israel buried Hadar Goldin on Sunday, a soldier initially feared abducted

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he had discussed the incident with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni by phone.

In a statement Mr Hammond said that while the facts were not clear he was "appalled at reports of further civilian casualties in the vicinity of a UN-run school".

Israel launched its aerial offensive on July 8 with the declared aim of ending "persistent" rocket fire by militants.

It subsequently sent in ground troops, shifting the focus of the operation to the destruction of the complex system of cross-border tunnels which it said were used by Hamas to infiltrate the country.

Israel had previously reported that the militants had used one such tunnel to kidnap an Israeli soldier.

Israel confirmed Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin was killed in combat

It later confirmed that Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin was killed in combat, prompting Hamas to accuse Israel of issuing misleading reports.

A funeral was held for the 23-year-old soldier in the Israeli town of Kfar Saba on Sunday.

Israel shunned ceasefire talks in Cairo on Sunday, attended by Egyptian and Palestinian negotiators, as Hamas rockets continued to be fired from Gaza.

During the weeks-long conflict, 64 Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed.

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Deadly Quake Topples 12,000 Homes In China

More than 350 people have been killed and over 1,400 others injured by an earthquake in southwest China.

Some 12,000 homes collapsed in Ludian, a densely populated county in Yunnan province, according to the Xinhua news agency. 

News reports said rescuers are still trying to reach victims in more remote towns.

Rescuers carry an injuried child on a stretcher in Ludian county

The epicentre was in the town of Longtoushan where one official was quoted as saying: "Too many buildings were damaged."

Ma Liya, a resident of Ludian county, which was a few miles away, said the streets were like a "battlefield after bombardment". 

"The aftermath is much, much worse than what happened after the quake two years ago," Ma said.

A paramilitary policeman carries a baby in his arms after the quake

"I have never felt such strong tremors before. What I can see are all ruins."

She added that her neighbour's house, a new two-storey building, had toppled.

Many of the homes that collapsed in Ludian, which has a population of about 429,000, were old and made of brick.

Electricity and telecommunications have also been cut off in the county

Power lines and communications have been badly affected

Xinhua is reporting at least 49 people dead and 102 people injured in Qiaojia county.

The US Geological Survey said it had a 6.3 magnitude, while China Earthquake Networks Centre measured it at 6.5.

The earthquake hit at a depth of six miles at about 4.30pm (9.30am UK time).

Pictures posted online by state media showed troops taking people away on stretchers.

Power lines and communications have been badly affected by the strongest earthquake to hit Yunnan in 14 years.

In 1970, a magnitude-7.7 earthquake in Yunnan killed at least 15,000 people, and a magnitude-7.1 quake in the province killed more than 1,400 in 1974.

In September 2012, 81 people died and 821 were injured in a series of quakes in the Yunnan region.

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British Woman 'Murdered' At Safari Lodge

A British woman thought to have been murdered in South Africa has been described as a "wonderful lady" and "very kind".

Christine Robinson, 59, who had been living in the country for about 10 years, is believed to have been found stabbed to death and robbed at her safari lodge.

Her body was discovered on Wednesday in her bedroom in Limpopo, near Thabazimbi, 150 miles north-west of Johannesburg.

The wages she had just withdrawn to pay staff were missing, according to a family spokesman.

Mrs Robinson, a former primary school teacher who was originally from Liverpool, jointly owned the lodge with her husband, Robbie, who died from cancer two years ago.

Her niece Lehanne Sergison, 43, from Bickley, Kent, said friends and relatives were "heartbroken".

She said the Foreign Office confirmed there was a suspect but he could have "fled" to Zimbabwe.

She said of her aunt: "She was wonderful, she really was a wonderful lady. Very kind, humble woman. It's hard to express how wonderful she is.

"Christine was the most wonderful woman anyone could wish to meet, a warm, cheerful, compassionate, kind-hearted and very popular human being, who enriched the lives of everyone she met.

"She was also bubbly and full of fun. She was adventurous, too, and travelled the world - Europe, the Middle East and China - teaching English to foreign children in international schools."

Ms Sergison added: "We know very little (about the incident). She was murdered on Wednesday. We haven't had much joy out of the police in South Africa, so we don't really know anything more than that."

She also said her aunt treated her employees "as family".

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We were notified of the death of a British national on July 30 in South Africa. We are providing consular assistance to the family at this difficult time."

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PM Warns Nato 'Russia Could Be A Threat'

Nato must bolster its military presence in eastern Europe so it could respond quickly to any threat from Russia, David Cameron has warned.

The Prime Minister has written to his Nato counterparts urging a rethink on relations with Moscow following its "illegal" actions in Ukraine, including the annexation of Crimea earlier this year.

He wrote: "We must review our long-term relationship with Russia. While Nato has only ever sought to be a partner to Russia, not a threat, it is clear that Russia views Nato as an adversary.

"We must accept that the co-operation of recent years is not currently possible because of Russia's own illegal actions in Nato's neighbourhood and revisit the principles that guide our relationship with Russia."

Measures should include sustaining a "robust" defensive presence in eastern Europe, adopting a new schedule of military exercises, positioning equipment and supplies in key locations and boosting Nato's Response Force.

The letter comes days after a report from the House of Commons Defence Committee warned that transatlantic defence forces were not prepared for any threat from Russia.

A Russian tank rolls outside a former Ukrainian military base in Crimea

Mr Cameron wants to use next month's Nato summit in south Wales to agree "long-term measures to strengthen our ability to respond quickly to any threat, to reassure those allies who fear for their own country's security and to deter any Russian aggression".

He believes the summit comes at a "pivotal" time in the organisation's history.

"In 2014, the world is more unpredictable than ever," the Prime Minister said. "To the East, Russia has ripped up the rulebook with its illegal annexation of Crimea and aggressive destabilisation of Ukraine. To the South, an arc of instability spreads from North Africa and the Sahel, to Syria, Iraq and the wider Middle East.

"So we must use the summit to agree how Nato should adapt to respond to and deter such threats; and to ensure the continued collective defence of all its members."

Meanwhile, Russia's Foreign Ministry has accused the European Union of withdrawing a ban on supplying Ukraine with military equipment "on the quiet".

Its statement also urged Europe not to be "goaded" by Washington over events in east Ukraine.

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