国际英语新闻:Thousands Flee Gaza Homes Under Israel Threat

On Sunday, Netanyahu blamed Hamas for the ongoing military offensive in the Gaza Strip, saying responsibility for any casualties lies with the Palestinian militants.

"Who is hiding in mosques? Hamas. Who puts weapons arsenals beneath hospitals? Hamas. Who puts headquarters in residential areas or near primary schools? Hamas," Netanyahu said.

"Hamas is using the residents of Gaza as human shields and is bringing a catastrophe upon the citizens of Gaza and that's why the responsibility for any casualties among the civilians of Gaza, which Israel regrets, that responsibility lies with Hamas and its collaborators," he said.

Netanyahu went on to blame Iran for funding, arming and training Hamas, saying that the meeting in Vienna on Iran's nuclear program must prevent the Iranians from developing a nuclear weapon.

If they fail to do so, Netanyahu said, "What is happening around here and what is happening in the Middle East, will be several times worse or maybe beyond that."

Britain, France and Turkey have expressed concerns about the loss of life in Gaza. U.S. President Barack Obama said the U.S. is willing to help facilitate a cessation of hostilities, while backing "Israel's right to defend itself.

Dr. Mahdi Abdul Hadi, head of a Palestinian academic society in Jerusalem (PASSIA), said both Israeli and Palestinian leadership have shown little willingness to back down.

"Netanyahu is refusing any reconciliation, any negotiations, any halting of the operations and he is carrying on the mission as usual," Hadi said. "The same thing, Hamas is going forward as planned, saying whatever will happen will happen to all of us."
 
Israel claims to have hit more than 1,100 targets inside Gaza since operations began. The military has called up more than 30,000 reservists and is now weighing whether to begin ground operations in Gaza.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier will travel to the Middle East on Monday, a foreign ministry spokeswoman said, where he will meet Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, German media reported.

Steinmeier called for an end to “Hamas rocket terror,” in comments to newspaper Bild am Sonntag published on Sunday, and urged a “coalition of reason” to stop the conflict escalating.

UN calls for cease-fire

The U.N. Security Council called for a cease-fire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In a statement Saturday, the 15-member council called for a de-escalation of the violence, a restoration of calm, and a reinstitution of a 2012 Egyptian-brokered cease-fire between the two sides.

This is the first official response to the crisis by the powerful U.N. body, which has been divided on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Western foreign ministers meeting on Sunday said a ceasefire was an urgent priority.

Also Sunday, Pope Francis led tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square in unannounced, silent prayer for an end to the warfare in the Middle East, the Associated Press reported.

Francis called for insistent prayers for peace in the Holy Land during his Sunday window appearance to pilgrims and tourists.

He said he didn't consider "in vain" the June 8 peace prayer gathering he hosted at the Vatican attended by the Israeli and Palestinian presidents.

Francis, who made a Middle East pilgrimage in May, urged people to avoid concluding that "violence and hatred win out over dialogue and reconciliation."

Hostilities along the Israel-Gaza frontier first intensified last month after Israeli forces arrested hundreds of Hamas activists in the Israeli-occupied West Bank following the abduction there of three Jewish teenagers who were later found killed.

A Palestinian youth was then killed in Jerusalem in a suspected revenge attack by Israelis.