A day in 2012 not all that much different than other days.
An Israeli missile ripped through a two-story home in a residential area of Gaza City on Sunday, killing at least 11 civilians, including four young children and an 81-year-old woman, in the single deadliest attack of Israel’s offensive against Islamic militants. A similar scene unfolded elsewhere in the city early today, when an airstrike leveled two houses belonging to a single family, killing two children and two adults and injuring 42 people, including children, said Gaza heath official Ashraf al-Kidra. Rescue workers were frantically searching for 12 to 15 members of the Azzam family under the rubble. While the airstrikes relentlessly targeted militant rocket operations, Israeli gunboats unleashed a steady tattoo of heavy machine gun fire and shells at militant facilities on Gaza’s coastal road. The bloodshed was likely to raise pressure on Israel to end the fighting, even as it pledged to intensify the offensive by striking the homes of wanted militants. High numbers of civilian casualties in an offensive four years ago led to fierce criticism and condemnation of Israel.
In all, 81 Palestinians, including 37 civilians, have been killed in the six-day onslaught and 720 have been wounded. Three Israeli civilians have died from Palestinian rocket fire and dozens have been wounded.
In other news: A Syrian rebel leader who brought together one of the most effective and organized factions fighting President Bashar Al-Assad in the country’s civil war has died of wounds suffered Thursday in a government attack on a meeting of rebel leaders outside Aleppo. The death of Abdul-Qadir Saleh was seen as a serious blow to the rebels amid a gathering government offensive as diplomats pursue efforts to convene international peace talks.
And finally – A bitter election battle to succeed Nicolas Sarkozy as new leader of France’s main centre-Right party, UMP, descended into chaos with both candidates claiming victory amid claims of vote-rigging on both sides. Yesterday’s election among the party’s 300,000 members was supposed to provide new momentum to a party that has lost the Senate, the lower house of parliament and the presidency this year. But there was little sign of unity early today, when Jean-François Copé, 48, the party’s populist secretary-general, claimed he had confounded predictions to beat his 58-year-old rival, the moderate candidate François Fillon. “The party faithful have just granted me the majority of their votes and thus elected me president of the UMP”, he told jubilant supporters, saying wished to work a with Mr Fillon, a former prime minister.
And along with the continuing story in Gaza, that’s just a small portion of what happened, this November 19, 2012 as reported by the English Service of Radio France International.
