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JERUSALEM (AP) — The number of people killed in the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip has reached at least 85, as Israel again targeted hundreds of Hamas sites today.
The Palestinians say the strikes also hit a home and a beachside cafe. They say eight people were killed at the cafe while watching a World Cup match on TV, and that eight members of a family died when the home was hit in southern Gaza. Israel's military says it's investigating both incidents. Israel says militants deliberately endanger civilians by using homes and other civilian buildings for cover.
The Israeli military also says it struck a car in Gaza carrying three Islamic Jihad militants involved in firing rockets. Israel's missile defense system, meanwhile, intercepted more rockets fired toward Israel's heartland today. Remnants of one missile landed in a gas station in Tel Aviv after being shot down.
Israel has said Hamas must end its rocket fire from Gaza for Israel to consider a truce. Hundreds of rockets have struck across the length of Israel, disrupting life across the country.
Although Israel has mobilized 20,000 reservists for a possible ground operation in Gaza, a military spokesman says the focus for now is on the air campaign. Peter Lerner says, "The ground option needs to be the last option, and only if it is absolutely necessary."
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161-r-21-(Sound of Palestinians carrying eight shrouded bodies from the town morgue through the streets, at funeral rally)--Sound of people responding angrily and in grief as the shrouded bodies of eight family members killed in an Israeli airstrike were carried through the streets of a southern Gaza town. (10 Jul 2014)
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124-r-22-(Sound of sirens in Tel Aviv, in escalating confrontation between Israel and Gaza-based militants)--Sound of sirens wailing across Tel Aviv as Palestinian militants from Gaza continue to fire rockets at Israel. (10 Jul 2014)
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APPHOTO AXLP102: Smoke rise following an Israeli strike on Gaza, seen from the Israel Gaza border on Thursday, July 10, 2014. Israel dramatically escalated its aerial assault in Gaza Thursday hitting hundreds of Hamas targets, as Palestinians reported more than a dozen of people killed in strikes that hit a home and a beachside cafe and Israel's missile defense system once again intercepted rockets fired by militants at the country's heartland. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) (10 Jul 2014)
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APPHOTO KH113: Palestinians search in the rubble of a destroyed house where eight members of the Al Haj family were killed in a strike early morning in Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip on Thursday, July 10, 2014. Israel dramatically escalated its aerial assault in Gaza Thursday hitting hundreds of Hamas targets, as Palestinians reported more than a dozen of people killed in strikes that hit a home and a beachside cafe and Israel's missile defense system once again intercepted rockets fired by militants at the country's heartland. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) (10 Jul 2014)
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APPHOTO TSA112: A man looks at cows killed in a rocket attack from Gaza Strip on a dairy farm in Beer Tuvia regional council on Thursday, July 10, 2014. Israel dramatically escalated its aerial assault in Gaza Thursday hitting hundreds of Hamas targets, as Palestinians reported more than a dozen of people killed in strikes that hit a home and a beachside cafe and Israel's missile defense system once again intercepted rockets fired by militants at the country's heartland. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov) (7 Jul 2014)
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