Inside Gaza: Constant Airstrikes And Shelling

The sound of airstrikes from above and artillery fire from the sea is constant in the Gaza Strip after Israel launched a major ground offensive, Sky's Sherine Tadros reports from inside the Palestinian territory.

More than 100 targets were hit in the first 10 hours of the assault - which Israeli authorities say is aimed at Hamas and other groups who have been firing rockets at Israel - and Palestinians fear this could be "just the beginning of the ground assault".

Tadros said smokescreens were visible in northern Gaza, indicating that Israeli tanks could be as far inland as 3-4 miles (5-7km).

Israel stepped up its ground offensive in Gaza early on Friday

"We've also been seeing Palestinian rocket fire coming from the northern Gaza Strip towards Israel, so that is clearly also continuing," she said.

"Palestinian fighters are trying to make the point they are still here and they are still fighting."

The Israeli military spent the early hours of the assault moving through the buffer zone along the Israel-Gaza border, Tadros said.

Smoke rises following what witnesses said were Israeli air strikes in Gaza

The Israeli authorities said they were clearing tunnels that they claim Palestinian militants use to try to infiltrate Israel.

"Israel says it is targeting terror tunnels but Palestinians really don't know what that means," Tadros said.

Overnight, power outages across the Gaza Strip left many areas in darkness.

An Israeli soldier stands near a mobile artillery unit outside Gaza

"It started in the northern part about 20 minutes or so before we heard the ground operation was under way," Tadros said.

She said flares fired from the Israeli side of the border were used to light up parts of the territory - a move that was then followed by renewed artillery fire or guided missile strikes. 

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UN Chief's Gaza Truce Bid As Deaths Reach 300

As the head of the United Nations prepares to visit Israelis and Palestinians to try to end the violence in Gaza, 11 Palestinians are said to have been killed in Israeli airstrikes overnight.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon will try to secure "a lasting" resolution to the conflict between Israel and Hamas when he visits the region, a senior UN official said at a UN Security Council emergency meeting last night.

The UN refused to say where Mr Ban was heading because of security reasons, but said he wants to "express solidarity with Israelis and Palestinians," so he will almost certainly visit both sides.

The Palestinian UN representative, meanwhile, threatened to go to UN and international courts if the Security Council did not act to protect Palestinian civilians from Israeli attacks.

Eleven Palestinians were reportedly killed by airstrikes overnight

Riyad Mansour said that Israel's "savage" aggression into Gaza could not be justified "by any means".

But in turn, Israel's ambassador held Hamas responsible for the continuing violence, saying it "lives by violence and celebrates death".

Around 300 Palestinians have been killed since fighting began 11 days ago, with another 2,000 injured, according to the health ministry in Gaza. One fifth of those have been children.

Figures provided by the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights show that civilians account for more than 80% of the victims of Israel's assault since July 8.

Israeli soldiers stand on top of tanks and armoured personnel carriers

Overnight, a strike killed seven people outside a mosque in the southern city of Khan Yunis, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al Qudra said. Three of the dead were from the same family.

Shortly afterwards four more people were killed in three separate strikes in Beit Hanun in the north, Deir al Balah in central Gaza, and another in Khan Yunis.

Israel launched a ground offensive on Thursday, starting a new phase in the operation which it said aimed partly to destroy an underground network of tunnels used by Hamas.

It is the first major Israeli ground offensive in Gaza in just over five years.

An Israeli Defence Force photo of apparent Hamas tunnels

The army has confirmed that a draft of 18,000 additional reserve soldiers has been authorised by the government on top of the 30,000 already deployed.

Israel's military said on Friday that it was ready for a "significant expansion" of a ground offensive.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned: "My instructions are to prepare for the possibility of significantly widening the ground operation, and the military is preparing accordingly."

While the UN has condemned the indiscriminate rocket fire into Israel from Gaza, it says it is "alarmed by Israel's heavy response".

The UN has said it is stepping up emergency aid to Gaza, where Israel's military offensive has worsened water shortages and raised fears of increased sewage contamination and water-borne diseases.

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Rebels Accused Of Taking Bodies From Wreckage

Pro-Russian separatists have been accused of removing 38 bodies from the Malaysia Airlines crash scene and attempting to destroy evidence at the site.

The Ukraine government said "terrorists, with the help of Russia, are trying to destroy evidence of international crimes", adding it had obtained data which showed bodies had been taken to a morgue in Donetsk.

However, Sky's Chief Correspondent Stuart Ramsay, at the scene, said there were reports rebels had moved bodies on Friday, which he did not witness himself, but body parts were now officially being removed by Ukraine emergency services.

It comes amid discussions between the two factions over the creation of a "security zone" around the crash scene amid claims of looting and evidence being compromised. No deal has yet been reached to seal and secure the site.

"Deep concerns" have been raised by Malaysia about the investigation into the plane disaster after a team of 30 international observers complained they were confronted by aggressive armed rebels who restricted their access to the crash site.

Critically, they said they were unable to speak to anyone about the whereabouts of the jet's two black box voice and data recorders.

Security monitors speak to a separatist at the crash scene

Malaysia's transport minister Liow Tiong Lai told a news conference on Saturday "the integrity of the site has been compromised and vital evidence has not been preserved".

"Any actions that prevent us from learning the truth about what happened to MH17 cannot be tolerated. Failure to stop such interference will be a betrayal of the lives that we lost," he said.

Six air accident investigators from Britain and a Malaysian disaster response team are due in the capital Kiev later.

The debris was scattered over a wide area

Reports of looting have also emerged as victims' bodies and belongings remain strewn across the area two days after the crash.

Sky's Michelle Clifford, in Donetsk, said: "These disturbing reports are gaining currency about looting at the site, that valuables, credit cards are being taken from bags from the wreckage, and in some cases from bodies.

"I think we should also see these reports in the context of a propaganda war. It may be part of a narrative to discredit the rebels.

A children's toy lies among the passengers' possessions

"But, I have just spoken to somebody, a contact I know very well and trust, and he said with his own eyes he saw the rebels taking money and valuables from luggage at the site."

Some 298 people, including 10 Britons and 80 children were killed when flight MH17 was brought down near Grabovo, Donetsk.

The British Government has joined the United States in blaming pro-Russian separatists for the catastrophe.

British victims Richard Mayne, Ben Pocock, Glenn Thomas and Liam Sweeney

Downing Street said it appeared "increasingly likely" a surface-to-air missile had been fired from near Torez, in territory controlled by rebels seeking closer ties to Moscow.

US ambassador Samantha Power said Washington could not rule out the possibility that Russia offered help to separatists to launch the missile, believed to be an SA-11.

The Boeing 777-200 was flying on an established route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that had been declared safe by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

It came down close to where Ukrainian forces have been battling separatists, with both sides blaming each other for the disaster.

Ukraine condemned the "act of terrorism" and released what it claimed was a recording of an intercepted phone call between two Russian military intelligence officers, discussing the downing of the plane.

In an unverified video, apparently taken moments after the plane was hit, an alleged pro-Russian rebel boasts: "Wow, that was a blast."

However, Russia pointed the finger at its neighbour, saying it picked up radar activity from a Ukrainian Buk missile system south of Donetsk when the aircraft came down.

:: The Foreign Office has set up a helpline for anyone concerned.  Text MH17 to +447860010026, or call 020 7008 1500. Malaysia Airlines's emergency line is 00 6 037 884 1234.

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Inside Gaza: Constant Airstrikes And Shelling

The sound of airstrikes from above and artillery fire from the sea is constant in the Gaza Strip after Israel launched a major ground offensive, Sky's Sherine Tadros reports from inside the Palestinian territory.

More than 100 targets were hit in the first 10 hours of the assault - which Israeli authorities say is aimed at Hamas and other groups who have been firing rockets at Israel - and Palestinians fear this could be "just the beginning of the ground assault".

Tadros said smokescreens were visible in northern Gaza, indicating that Israeli tanks could be as far inland as 3-4 miles (5-7km).

Israeli troops crossed the border into Gaza overnight

"We've also been seeing Palestinian rocket fire coming from the northern Gaza Strip towards Israel, so that is clearly also continuing," she said.

"Palestinian fighters are trying to make the point they are still here and they are still fighting."

The Israeli military spent the early hours of the assault moving through the buffer zone along the Israel-Gaza border, Tadros said.

A deserted street in Gaza as Israeli forces continue their ground operation

The Israeli authorities said they were clearing tunnels that they claim Palestinian militants use to try to infiltrate Israel.

"Israel says it is targeting terror tunnels but Palestinians really don't know what that means," Tadros said.

Overnight, power outages across the Gaza Strip left many areas in darkness.

Palestinian authorities say the majority of casualties are civilians

"It started in the northern part about 20 minutes or so before we heard the ground operation was under way," Tadros said.

She said flares fired from the Israeli side of the border were used to light up parts of the territory - a move that was then followed by renewed artillery fire or guided missile strikes. 

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Mystery Over Who 'Shot Down' Malaysia Plane

World leaders are demanding an international investigation after a passenger plane was allegedly shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur at an altitude of 33,000ft (10,000m) when contact was lost yesterday afternoon and it crashed near the border with Russia.

The Netherlands suffered the biggest loss of life with 173 of its citizens dying. Among the other victims were nine Britons.

An emergency worker at the scene of the crash

They included 49-year-old Glenn Thomas, a media officer at the World Health Organisation, who was described as a "wonderful person and a great professional".

Two Newcastle United fans, who were travelling to see their football team play in New Zealand, also died.

Plumes of thick, black smoke could be seen rising high into the air close to the village of Grabovo, Donetsk, where the airliner came down.

Flames rise from wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines jet

The cockpit and one of the turbines were over half a mile apart, and residents said the tail was about six miles away, indicating the aircraft most likely broke up before hitting the ground.

Many of the bodies strewn across the fields are largely intact – some of them are still strapped into their plane seats. People who live in the area have described seeing bodies falling through the sky.

Pro-Russian separatists in the region said they had found one of the "black box" recorders and rescue workers have recovered a second flight recorder.

If it was shot down, it has not yet been confirmed who did it.

An adviser to the Ukrainian interior ministry said the Boeing 777 was hit by a Buk ground-to-air missile. US intelligence also concluded a surface-to-air missile had brought the plane down.

Authorities in Kiev said pro-Russian separatists were to blame, as President Petro Poroshenko called it an "act of terrorism".

Flight MH17 taking off at Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands

However, separatist leader Alexander Borodai said Ukrainian government forces were responsible.

And Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "The state over whose territory this occurred bears responsibility."

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott criticised Russia's attitude, saying the crash was "not an accident, but a crime".

The last known location of flight MH17

Among the 283 passengers and 15 crew on board were 44 Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, four Germans, four Belgians, three Filipinos, one Canadian and one from New Zealand.

The victims included three infants, and the nationalities of 20 passengers have yet to be verified.

Many of the passengers were on their way to an International Aids Society (IAS) conference in Melbourne, and the Society has said they may have included one of its former presidents, Joep Lange.

Armed Russian separatists inspect the wreckage

Britain has joined the US and other countries in calling for an international probe into the disaster. US President Barack Obama has said it should be "prompt, full, credible and unimpeded".

US Vice-President Joe Biden said the jet appeared to have been deliberately "blown out of the sky", with an unnamed US official blaming Ukrainian separatists backed by Russia.

The wreckage was scattered over a wide area

Sky's Katie Stallard, in Moscow, said Igor Strelkov, the commander of the pro-Russian Donetsk People's Republic, appeared to have boasted about the incident on social media.

In one deleted message recovered by Sky News, he allegedly wrote: "We warned you not to fly over our sky."

A distressed woman waits for information in Kuala Lumpur

Ukraine's security service also released what it claimed was a recording of an intercepted phone call between two Russian military intelligence officers, discussing the downing of the plane.

Sky's Mark White said the aircraft had been flying just 1,000ft (300m) above a zone deemed "unsuitable for civilian aircraft".

However Malaysia Airlines has said the route taken by flight MH17 had been declared safe by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

The operator, still reeling from the loss of flight MH370 in March, has announced all its European flights will be taking alternative routes with immediate effect.

The disaster is the latest in a series of reported attacks on planes in Ukrainian airspace and came a day after one of the country's Sukhoi-25 fighter jets was shot down.

The United Nations Security Council is to hold an emergency meeting on Ukraine later today.

:: Malaysia Airlines has set up an emergency line for worried relatives: 00 6 037 884 1234.

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Israel To Widen Gaza Offensive 'Significantly'

Israel's military is ready for a "significant expansion" of the Gaza ground offensive that has already claimed at least 24 lives.

The offensive began on Thursday night with the aim of destroying the weapons arsenal, infrastructure and underground tunnels used by Hamas, Israeli officials claimed.

An Israeli soldier and at least 23 Palestinians have already been killed in the operation, according to Palestinian officials.

But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned: "My instructions are to prepare for the possibility of significantly widening the ground operation, and the military is preparing accordingly."

Smoke billows in Gaza after an air strike on Friday

Mr Netanyahu said a ground assault was the only way to infiltrate Hamas' underground network.

By daylight IDF reported it had "neutralised 14 terrorists, destroyed 20 rocket launchers, carried out nine strikes on tunnels and hit a total of 103 terror targets".

Israel confirmed 20-year-old Sgt Eitan Barak had been "killed fighting Hamas terrorists". The country's media is investigating the possibility he was a victim of so-called friendly fire.

Sgt Eitan Barak, killed in fighting overnight. Pic: Israeli Defence Force

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called the ground offensive "foolish", adding that Israel would suffer "dreadful consequences".

Four members of one family in Khan Younis were among the dead, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.

Meanwhile, Israel claimed 50 rockets were fired from Gaza overnight - 25 slamming into its territory.

Those injured in explosions and fighting are arriving at hospitals in Gaza

Gaza health officials said the 23 killed in the operation included a three-month-old boy who died after a shell hit his family's Bedouin tent in southern Gaza.

Israeli tanks and troops moved into Gaza following a 10-day campaign of more than 2,000 airstrikes that had failed to halt relentless Hamas rocket fire on Israeli cities.

It is the first major Israeli ground offensive in Gaza in just over five years.

Israeli tanks sit next to a gap in the wall seperating Gaza and Israel

The army has confirmed that a draft of 18,000 more reserve soldiers has been authorised by the government.     

Mr Netanyahu's chief spokesman Mark Regev told Sky News the decision to launch the offensive had not been taken "lightly" but that action needed to be taken to "protect our citizens".

He said the chance of a ceasefire is now very unlikely: "This operation is only happening because Hamas rejected the ceasefire proposal supported by Egypt, a proposal supported by the United Nations."

Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal said the operation was destined to fail, in remarks to AFP in the Qatari capital.

Israeli rocket fire into Gaza

"What the occupier Israel failed to achieve through its air and sea raids, it will not be able to achieve with a ground offensive. It is bound to fail," Mr Meshaal said from his exile in Doha.

Egypt's foreign ministry denounced Israel's "escalation" in Gaza and again demanded both sides accept a Cairo-proposed truce.

The ground campaign followed a brief truce earlier on Thursday in which Israel held fire to allow Gazans to stock up on food and other necessities after being largely holed up at home since the conflict began last month.

More follows...

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Putin: Sanctions Could Cause 'Serious Damage'

Vladimir Putin has warned a fresh wave of sanctions will take US relations with Russia to "a dead end" and damage America's business interests.

The US and the EU have stepped up measures over what is viewed as Russia's interference in Ukraine.

President Barack Obama has imposed the most wide-ranging sanctions yet, targeting major banks, energy and defence firms including Gazprombank and Rosneft Oil Co.

Steps are also being taken to prevent rebel groups and senior officials in Ukraine getting hold of funds.

"Sanctions have a boomerang effect and without any doubt they will push US-Russian relations into a dead end, and cause very serious damage," Mr Putin said.

Mr Obama announces fresh wave of sanctions

"And I am convinced that this will harm the national long-term interests of the American state, the American people."

Mr Obama said the US measures were "significant but targeted".

"I've repeatedly made it clear that Russia must halt the flow of weapons and fighters across the border into Ukraine.

"So far, Russia has failed to take any of the steps that I mentioned."

Meanwhile, EU leaders meeting in Brussels agreed a more limited package.

They agreed to impose asset freezes against around 11 more individuals but said measures will be expanded significantly at the end of July to cover "entities and persons" helping to undermine Ukraine's "sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence".

The European Commission will also "reassess and potentially suspend" co-operation programmes with Russia.

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Afghanistan: Militants Attack Kabul Airport

Taliban militants have used rockets to attack Kabul International Airport in a siege that lasted four hours.

Two nearby buildings were taken over by the insurgents, who fired automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades towards the complex and ISAF jet fighters flying over the Afghan capital.

No planes were damaged at the airport - which is also used as a base by Nato-led forces - and all civilian flights were suspended during the assault.

Afghan forces arrive at the scene of the attack on Kabul Airport

Officials said the attackers were surrounded by Afghan forces and killed.

Gul Agha Hashimi, a senior police official, said: "The attack is over, and the area is cleared from the insurgents. All the insurgents who were holed up in an under-construction building were killed."

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the pre-dawn attack which comes as foreign troops prepare to leave the war-torn country by the end of the year, and after a disputed presidential election.

The two candidates, former finance minister Ashraf Ghani and ex-foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, have agreed to an audit of all eight million ballots which is expected to take around three weeks following claims of widespread fraud by both camps.

A suicide car bombing in eastern Afghanistan killed 89 people on Tuesday

It is not the first time the airport has come under fire from the Taliban.

Militants destroyed four choppers, including Afghan President Hamid Karzai's helicopter, in an attack earlier this month.

On Tuesday, a suicide bomber blew up a car packed with explosives near a busy market and mosque in eastern Afghanistan, killing 89 people.

The explosion took place in the town of Urgun in Paktika province, close to the border with Pakistan, where the military has been attacking Pakistani Taliban hideouts.

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'Three Die As Israel Fires Just Before Truce'

Palestinian Police have said three Gazan civilians were killed when Israeli tank shells landed on a house - minutes before a temporary truce got under way.

Fighting between the two sides continued right up to the start of the five-hour ceasefire which started at 10am local time (8am BST).

A further four people were seriously wounded in the attack on the southern Gazan town of Rafah, according to medics, while the Israel military said 15 rockets were fired into Israel this morning.

An Israeli cannon fires artillery shells into Gaza on Thursday morning

The truce came into force just hours after Israel said it has foiled an attack by 13 Palestinian gunmen who tunnelled in from Gaza.

A spokesman said the Hamas fighters were identified some 820ft (250 metres) inside Israel and were struck by aircraft.

He said at least one militant was killed and the remaining fighters appeared to have returned to Gaza through the tunnel which they had been digging for some time.

They were heading towards Sufa kibbutz, a small community about a mile away, when they were spotted. 

Gaza City (foreground) and the Israeli city of Ashkelon (background)

It is the second time Palestinian fighters have infiltrated Israel from Gaza. Last week four were killed as they attempted to enter from the sea.

It comes amid reports Israel and Hamas have been holding indirect talks in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

Both sides agreed to halt fighting for five hours on humanitarian grounds on Thursday, while efforts continued to broker a longer-term truce.

It will allow for humanitarian aid to get through and for people to go out and shop for vital provisions.

A dozen gunmen sneaked into Israel from Gaza

Israel said it would stand by the agreement despite the infiltration - but warned the attack "could have had devastating consequences" as the Palestinian fighters were armed with "extensive weapons", including rocket-propelled grenades.

Sky's Chief Correspondent Stuart Ramsay, who is in the Israeli city of Ashkelon, said: "It is one of the biggest fears in Israel that Hamas fighters can get into Israel and wreak havoc in the kibbutz that are along the border with Gaza.

"The whole of that border is watched very, very closely at all times, and so the Israelis here are saying that they expected there would be some type of spectacular attempt to attack Israeli citizens, but they were able to foil it."

Four children were killed in an Israeli strike on a Gaza beach on Wednesday

The temporary truce comes after a group of Palestinian children were killed on Wednesday when a shell landed on a beach they were playing on.

Gaza's health ministry described the attack as "cowardly", while the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) promised a full investigation and said the deaths appeared to have been a "tragic outcome" of a strike aimed at Hamas militants.

Some 233 people have been killed so far in the 10 days of cross-border fighting.

Tensions in the region have been inflamed following the kidnap and murder of three Israeli teenagers and the suspected revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager.

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Middle East: Old Formula For Peace Will Not Work

A Complex Web Of Friends And Enemies

Updated: 10:16am UK, Sunday 13 July 2014

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

Rockets fired from Lebanon into Israel at dawn. The opening of a new front for Israel already engaged in an escalating air campaign in the Gaza Strip? No.

Neither the Israelis nor Hezbollah, which has an arsenal of 100,000 rockets and controls southern Lebanon, are that stupid.

The missile attack on Israel's north was an attempt by Sunni militants to spark a confrontation between Hezbollah and Israel that both know would be a zero sum.

Why would Sunnis, in all probability descendants of Palestinian refugees from what is now Israel, want to do that?

It's Hezbollah, a Shia movement, after all, that has been a major conduit of experts, funding and modern rockets to Hamas, a Sunni organisation, in Gaza. Hamas and Hezbollah are allies.

But only when it comes to fighting Israel.

In Syria, Hamas has condemned the Assad regime, which like Hezbollah is backed by Iran.

Sunnis of Palestinian descent are among volunteers who have joined rebel groups fighting Damascus, while Hezbollah has sent thousands of its best fighters to the frontlines to defend the regime of Bashar al Assad.

There is a logic at work here.

If Sunni groups in south Lebanon can sucker the Israelis into a war with Hezbollah they could enjoy the double whammy of reduced pressure on Gaza, and the use of Israel's devastating air power against Hezbollah, the Sunnis' enemies in Syria.

No better example of an attempt to kill two birds with one stone.

It won't happen because both Hezbollah and Israel, foes who have the greatest respect for one another, saw through the plot some time back. It's not the first time it has been tried.

But it does signal just how the Middle East's tectonic plates of conflict have shifted and can overlap.

The explosion of sectarian Muslim war between Sunni and Shia in Syria, which has spread into Iraq and has destabilised Lebanon, has become the defining clash in a new age of chaos.

Rival regional powers Saudi Arabia and Iran use proxies to vie for influence and control.

The Saudis have become increasingly nervous of the spread of a Shia crescent from Tehran through Baghdad to Damascus and south Lebanon.

But Tehran has also used enemy forces to bolster the positions of its allies.

According to intelligence sources Muhsin al Fadhli, once a senior al Qaeda figure based in Iraq, has taken up an operational role inside Syria - at the instigation of the Iranian government.

Why would Tehran release someone to fight a key client and ally in Damascus?

Because radical groups like the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have fought harder against fellow rebel groups than they have against the Assad regime.

Tehran has split the rebels.

But now ISIS threatens Iran's client government in Baghdad showing that an enemy's enemy may be a friend from time to time, but will remain an enemy.

This may be complicated, but there is no excuse for stupidity in the Middle East. Failure to comprehend this can be fatal.

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Ten Dead As Typhoon Batters The Philippines

At least 10 people have been killed and thousands left without power after a typhoon ripped through central Philippines.

More than 370,000 people were forced to flee their homes

Typhoon Rammasun, which is also known locally as Glenda, battered the main island of Luzon with gusts of up to 115mph.

It was classified the the most powerful storm of the annual typhoon season.

Despite veering off-track south of the capital Manila, it still managed to leave a trail of destruction in the city - home to 12 million people.

A motorcyclist blown over by a gust of wind from the typhoon

Electricity poles, trees and roofs were damaged, with government offices and schools forced to close.

More than 370,000 people were moved from high-risk villages to emergency shelters in six provinces.

Hundreds of residents of one shanty town at the edge of Manila Bay fled when strong wind tore the tin roofs off their dwellings.

Trees were brought down across the capital Manila

Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said: "It was like a drill - we hauled people away from dangerous seaside areas, whether they liked it or not."

More than three people were killed in rural provinces, while a trio of family members died when a wall collapsed on them in Lucena city.

An infant boy also died after a partial building collapse in Cavite province, near the capital.

Coastal shanty towns were particularly hard hit by Rammasun

Three fishermen have been reported missing in Catanduanes, near Albay province, where Rammasun made landfall late on Tuesday.

At least four provinces on Luzon declared, or planned to declare, a 'state of calamity', which allows regional governments to access emergency relief funds.

Many Filipinos feared the typhoon would be a repeat of 2013's Haiyan

Damage assessments are still to be carried out, due to continuing heavy rain and wind and the loss of telephone communications to many areas.

Although the typhoon brought strong winds and storm surges that hit shantytowns, not much flooding was reported as rainfall was not excessive.

In 2013, massive devastation and deaths occurred when Typhoon Haiyan hit southern parts of the country.

Haiyan's strong winds and tsunami-like storm surges flattened towns, leaving at least 6,300 people dead and more than 1,000 missing.

Rammasun, the Thai term for the god of thunder, is the seventh storm to batter the Philippines this year.

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Palestinians Urged To Leave Homes As Truce Fails

Israel's military has urged tens of thousands of Palestinians living in northern and eastern Gaza to leave their homes.

The move could signal more airstrikes are planned for those areas after Israel warned the ruling Hamas militant group would "pay the price" for rejecting a ceasefire plan.

Israel says it will "expand and intensify" its offensive as aerial assaults resumed on Tuesday after being briefly suspended following its acceptance of the Egypt-brokered truce.

Palestinian militants fired dozens of rockets in the first six hours of the ceasefire plan which led to Israel restarting its strikes in Gaza - that has a population of 1.7 million.

People carry their belongings among building debris in Gaza

The fresh raids hit Gaza City, southern Khan Younis, Rafah and central Johr al Deeq, killing five people, reported the AFP news agency.

Israel has confirmed its first death of the week-long conflict - a man who was delivering food to soldiers suffered fatal wounds when a Hamas rocket struck the Erez crossing on the Gaza border.

The Israeli military has told residents of the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya and the Gaza City neighbourhoods of Shijaiyah and Zeitoun in automated telephone calls to leave their properties.

Leaflets were dropped warning of IDF strikes in Gaza

Sami Wadiya, a resident of one of the areas likely to be targeted, said he would not leave his home. "We know it's risky, but there are no secure places to go to."

Prior to the calls, the raids have already prompted around 17,000 people to flee their homes, particularly in northern Gaza, with many taking refuge in UN schools.

Hamas officials said they had not been consulted on the ceasefire proposal and would not halt violence without a fully-fledged deal including Israeli concessions.

More than 190 Palestinians, including many civilians - some children - have been killed by the bombardment over the last week and the Israelis say the raids are designed to stop rocket fire from Gaza.

Since July 8, Gaza militants have fired more than 1,200 rockets at Israel - hundreds of which have been intercepted by the Iron Dome air defence system - while Israeli aircraft have struck close to 1,700 times.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "It would have been preferable to have solved this diplomatically, and this is what we tried to do when we accepted the Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire.

"But Hamas leaves us no choice but to expand and intensify the campaign against it."

He added: "Hamas chose to continue fighting and will pay the price for that decision. When there is no ceasefire, our answer is fire."

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the movement had not been consulted on the truce bid.

"We didn't get to see the Egyptian proposal except through the media," he said.

"The idea of halting fire before there is any agreement on the conditions laid out by the resistance is unacceptable and we reject it."

Hamas has said it wants the end of Israel's blockade of Gaza and the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt as part of a truce deal.

It also wants Israel to free Palestinians it re-arrested after releasing them in a 2011 exchange for an Israeli soldier held by Gaza militants for more than five years.

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Oscar Pistorius Denies 'Bar Brawl' Claims

Oscar Pistorius has denied claims he was involved in an altercation in a nightclub days after the final evidence was heard in his murder trial.

The alleged argument took place at The VIP Room, in Sandton, Johannesburg, on Saturday night.

The 27-year-old Paralympian and Olympian claimed he was approached by a man who "aggressively interrogated" him over his trial for the murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Businessman Jared Mortimer told local media that Pistorius insulted his friends and began poking him in the chest at the club.

Reeva Steenkamp was shot dead on Valentine's Day 2013 at Pistorius' home

But a statement from Pistorius' spokeswoman Anneliese Burgess denied the incident was a "bar brawl".

"We can confirm that Oscar was at the said venue with one of his cousins," she said.

"They sat in a quiet booth in the VIP section when they were approached by an individual who has now been identified as a Mr Mortimer.

"The individual, according to my client, started to aggressively interrogate him on matters relating to the trial.

"An argument ensued during which my client asked to be left alone. Oscar soon thereafter left the club with his cousin.

"My client regrets the decision to go to a public space and thereby inviting unwelcome attention."

It comes after Pistorius broke his silence on social media by posting a series of messages on his Twitter account on Sunday.

In them, he posted a collage of himself posing with children and uploaded a passage about how a man in "utter desolation" can still "achieve fulfilment".

The athlete posted these images on his Twitter account

Pistorius claims he heard an intruder in his house and "in fear for his life" approached a closed toilet door and fired four shots through it on Valentine's Day in 2013.

He said he thought Miss Steenkamp, 29, was still in the bedroom when he opened fire.

Pistorius' defence wrapped up its case in the trial last Tuesday.

The double-amputee, known as the Blade Runner, will be back at Pretoria High Court on August 7 for closing arguments.

The judge will then retire to consider the verdict, which could take several weeks.

Pistorius faces between 25 years and life in prison if found guilty.

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Moscow Train Derailment Leaves 10 Dead

At least 10 people have been killed after a rush-hour subway train derailed in Moscow, emergency officials said.

Several carriages left the track in a tunnel after a power surge triggered an alarm, which caused the train to stop abruptly.

City Hall officials gave the death toll as 10.

At least 106 people were taken to hospital, of whom 50 are in a serious condition, Itar-TASS said, quoting Moscow's health department chief, Georgy Golukhov.

Yuri Akimov, a Moscow representative of the emergency services, said in a televised briefing outside the Park Pobedy station that about 200 people were evacuated from the train, which was stuck between two stations in west Moscow.

Park Pobedy is the deepest metro station in Moscow, 84m (275ft) deep, which is making the rescue particularly hard.

While accidents are regular occurrences in the Moscow Metro, deadly incidents are rare.

More follows ...

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Hamas Fighters Reject Gaza Ceasefire Plan

A Complex Web Of Friends And Enemies

Updated: 10:16am UK, Sunday 13 July 2014

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

Rockets fired from Lebanon into Israel at dawn. The opening of a new front for Israel already engaged in an escalating air campaign in the Gaza Strip? No.

Neither the Israelis nor Hezbollah, which has an arsenal of 100,000 rockets and controls southern Lebanon, are that stupid.

The missile attack on Israel's north was an attempt by Sunni militants to spark a confrontation between Hezbollah and Israel that both know would be a zero sum.

Why would Sunnis, in all probability descendants of Palestinian refugees from what is now Israel, want to do that?

It's Hezbollah, a Shia movement, after all, that has been a major conduit of experts, funding and modern rockets to Hamas, a Sunni organisation, in Gaza. Hamas and Hezbollah are allies.

But only when it comes to fighting Israel.

In Syria, Hamas has condemned the Assad regime, which like Hezbollah is backed by Iran.

Sunnis of Palestinian descent are among volunteers who have joined rebel groups fighting Damascus, while Hezbollah has sent thousands of its best fighters to the frontlines to defend the regime of Bashar al Assad.

There is a logic at work here.

If Sunni groups in south Lebanon can sucker the Israelis into a war with Hezbollah they could enjoy the double whammy of reduced pressure on Gaza, and the use of Israel's devastating air power against Hezbollah, the Sunnis' enemies in Syria.

No better example of an attempt to kill two birds with one stone.

It won't happen because both Hezbollah and Israel, foes who have the greatest respect for one another, saw through the plot some time back. It's not the first time it has been tried.

But it does signal just how the Middle East's tectonic plates of conflict have shifted and can overlap.

The explosion of sectarian Muslim war between Sunni and Shia in Syria, which has spread into Iraq and has destabilised Lebanon, has become the defining clash in a new age of chaos.

Rival regional powers Saudi Arabia and Iran use proxies to vie for influence and control.

The Saudis have become increasingly nervous of the spread of a Shia crescent from Tehran through Baghdad to Damascus and south Lebanon.

But Tehran has also used enemy forces to bolster the positions of its allies.

According to intelligence sources Muhsin al Fadhli, once a senior al Qaeda figure based in Iraq, has taken up an operational role inside Syria - at the instigation of the Iranian government.

Why would Tehran release someone to fight a key client and ally in Damascus?

Because radical groups like the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have fought harder against fellow rebel groups than they have against the Assad regime.

Tehran has split the rebels.

But now ISIS threatens Iran's client government in Baghdad showing that an enemy's enemy may be a friend from time to time, but will remain an enemy.

This may be complicated, but there is no excuse for stupidity in the Middle East. Failure to comprehend this can be fatal.

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Israel's Threat As Thousands Flee Northern Gaza

Israel has appeared to hold off on a threatened escalation of its Gaza Strip offensive, but Palestinian deaths continue to mount.

On Sunday, the Israeli military warned residents of the northern border town of Beit Lahiya to leave or risk their lives when, after nightfall, it planned to intensify air strikes against suspected Palestinian rocket launchers among civilian homes.

But despite a lone strike on farmland outside the town there has been little sign so far of the Israeli operation being ramped up.

However, Israeli troops launched a ground operation in the northern Gaza Strip, the first since the offensive against Hamas began.

Artillery flares illuminate the sky following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza

The navy commandos' brief incursion on Sunday - which ignored a United Nations call for a ceasefire - targeted a rocket launcher site, according to Israeli public radio.

The armed branch of Hamas confirmed that Israeli troops had exchanged gunfire with Palestinian fighters.

Thousands of residents in northern Gaza have fled their homes, after the Israeli military warning.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military would be hitting Hamas "with growing force," warning there was no end in sight. 

A picture tweeted by Israel claiming to target a militant rocket site

"We do not know when this operation will end," he told ministers.

In an interview on CBS's Face the Nation, he defended the offensive.

"When we began this interview we were under bomb alert and as the minutes passed now we're told people can go out into the open air again," he said.

"This is the kind of reality we're living in. And we'll do whatever is necessary to put an end to it."

Tel Aviv residents take cover during an air raid siren warning of an attack

Mr Netanyahu urged Americans to imagine US cities from the East Coast to Colorado, or 80% of the population, were under threat of rocket attack, with only 60 to 90 seconds to reach a bomb shelter.

"That's what we're experiencing right now, as we speak," he said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has phoned Mr Netanyahu to renew a US offer to help mediate a truce.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is to ask the United Nations for international protection as the offensive continues.

Israeli soldiers rest in the shade of trees near central Gaza

Israel began its offensive on Tuesday in response to weeks of rocket attacks from Hamas militants in Gaza, who are understood to have fired more than 600 missiles into the country.

Two more rockets shot from Gaza were destroyed over the Tel Aviv area by the Iron Dome missile defence system on Sunday, several hours after another two rockets were intercepted over Lod, close to the country's main airport.

Hamas has denied being behind a rocket attack on Israel from Lebanon on Saturday evening.

A rocket fired from Syria hit the Golan Heights, falling on open ground and causing no casualties, an army spokeswoman told AFP.

Israeli soldiers walk across a field near central Gaza strip

Earlier that day an Israeli warplane bombed the home of Gaza's police chief and damaged a nearby mosque, killing at least 18 people and wounding 50.

It was the deadliest single attack during the conflict, which has now claimed 165 Palestinian lives and left more than 1,000 injured.

No Israelis have died so far in the latest conflict, and many of the rockets fired into the country have been intercepted by Iron Dome.

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