435 Palestinians, 18 Israelis Killed in Escalating Gaza War

80% of Palestinian Dead Are Civilians; 16 of 18 Israelis Are Soldiers

by Jason Ditz, 

The latest Israeli war in the Gaza Strip continues to escalate today, with 13 Israeli soldiers killed in overnight fighting in the strip, including seven killed when their APC drove over an explosive.

The death toll on the Palestinian side is still soaring, with around 100 killed today, bringing theoverall toll to 435 dead, and well over 2,000 wounded. The Red Cross is working to broker a ceasefire to allow the dead and wounded to be taken out of the battlefield.

The toll on the Palestinian side is overwhelming civilian in nature, with an estimated 80 percent of the slain civilians. Of the 435, 112 were children. By contrast, the dead on the Israeli side are almost exclusively soldiers, with 16 troops killed and 2 civilians since the war began.

The latest reports out of Gaza say Israeli forces are firing flechette shells now, which explode and spray out thousands of tiny darts to increase the number of casualties. The shells were fired near Khan Younis.

The war continues to escalate, and there seems to be little sign of that stopping, with Israel having no real exit strategy or even endgameenvisioned for the conflict, being the vague hope of returning to “calm.”

http://news.antiwar.com/2014/07/20/435-palestinians-18-israelis-killed-in-escalating-gaza-war/