Israeli strikes kill 88 as Hamas makes a plea to lift blockade

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Rescuers said Israeli strikes on Gaza killed nearly 90 people on Friday, while Hamas demanded the United States press Israel to lift a sweeping aid blockade in return for a US-Israeli hostage released by the group.

Umm Mohammed al-Tatari, 57, told AFP that she was awoken by a pre-dawn attack on northern Gaza.“We were asleep when suddenly everything exploded around us,” she said.“Everyone started running. We saw the destruction with our own eyes. There was blood everywhere, body parts and corpses.”

“There is no safety. We could die at any moment,” said 33-year-old Ahmed Nasr, also from northern Gaza.At the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia, AFPTV footage showed mourners crying over the bodies of their loved ones.

“They were innocent people,” said Mayar Salem. “Only their remains are left... They were my sisters and daughters.”Israeli media reported on Friday that the military had stepped up its offensive in line with a plan approved by the government earlier this month, though there has not been any formal announcement of an expanded campaign.

The military said in a statement on Friday that its forces had “struck over 150 terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip” in 24 hours.The main Israeli campaign group representing the families of hostages said that by extending the fighting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was missing an “historic opportunity” to get their loved ones out through diplomacy.

Another group representing hostage relatives, the Tivka Forum, called for more military pressure “coordinated with diplomatic pressure, a complete siege, cutting off water and electricity”.

For weeks, UN agencies have warned of severe shortages in Gaza.The 46-member Council of Europe on Friday said the territory was suffering from a “deliberate starvation”.

Meanwhile, the UN´s rights chief on Friday decried Israel´s sharp escalation of attacks in Gaza -- and an apparent push to permanently displace the population -- as amounting to “ethnic cleansing”.

“This latest barrage of bombs... and the denial of humanitarian assistance underline that there appears to be a push for a permanent demographic shift in Gaza that is in defiance of international law and is tantamount to ethnic cleansing,” Volker Turk said in a statement.