UN chief says fighting 'utterly appalling', amid international pleas for de-escalation

GAZA CITY－Israeli airstrikes hammered the Gaza Strip on Monday after a week of violence that has killed more than 200 people, bucking international calls to de-escalate the violence.

The strikes rocked the Hamas-ruled enclave from north to south for 10 minutes in an attack that was heavier, over a wider area, and lasted longer than a series of air raids 24 hours earlier.

Israel's army said in a statement it hit the homes of nine "high-ranking" Hamas commanders, without providing details on casualties.

Israel had targeted the homes in recent days of a number of senior Hamas leaders, including Yehiyeh Sinwar, the top leader inside Gaza. The group's leadership went underground when the fighting began and it was unlikely any were at home at the time of the strikes.

Gaza's residents awakened by the barrage described it as the heaviest since the war began a week ago.

West Gaza resident Mad Abed Rabbo, 39, expressed "horror and fear" at the intensity of the onslaught. "There have never been strikes of this magnitude," he said.

Gaza resident Mani Qazaat said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "should realize we're civilians, not fighters".

"I felt like I was dying," he said.

Nearly 3,100 rockets have also been fired by Palestinian militants toward Israel since the conflict escalated on May 10 in the heaviest exchange of fire between the rivals in years, sparked by unrest in Jerusalem.

A total of 197 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including at least 58 children. More than 1,200 have been wounded since Israel launched its air campaign.

Israel says 10 people, including one child, have been killed and 294 wounded by rocket fire.

Both Israel and Hamas faced mounting international calls for a cease-fire in hostilities that entered their second week on Monday with no end in sight.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pled for an immediate end to the "utterly appalling" violence and warned of an "uncontainable security and humanitarian crisis" during an open debate on the situation held by the UN Security Council on Sunday.

"Fighting must stop. It must stop immediately. Rockets and mortars on one side and aerial and artillery bombardments on the other must stop. I appeal to all parties to heed this call," Guterres said.

Efforts blocked

The United States, Israel's closest ally, has so far blocked days of efforts by China, Norway and Tunisia to get the Security Council to issue a statement, including a call for the cessation of hostilities.

Robert Mardini, director-general of the International Committee of the Red Cross, also called on the leaders concerned to exert maximum influence to stop the hostilities between Gaza and Israel, and to ensure better access to the people affected by the mayhem.

"Actors on the ground must stop this cycle of violence. The rules are crystal clear: Civilians must be protected at all times. Sadly, that is not the case today," he said.

Netanyahu said on Sunday the Israeli airstrikes and shelling of the Gaza Strip "will continue as long as necessary". In a televised statement in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu downplayed international pressure on Israel to agree to a truce that will quell the worsening conflict.

Hamas' top leader, Ismail Haniyeh, who is based abroad, said the group has been contacted by the United States, Russia, Egypt and Qatar as part of truce efforts but "will not accept a solution that is not up to the sacrifices of the Palestinian people".

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said his government is working to "urgently" end the violence, in his first comments since the war broke out. Egypt, which borders both Gaza and Israel, has played a central role in the cease-fires brokered after previous rounds of fighting.

Xinhua - Agencies