Gaza strike kills 15, wounds 150

View gallery An Israeli forces flare lights up the sky of eastern Gaza City, early Wednesday, July 30, 2014, amid … Raw: Weapons Fire Hits UN School in GazaPlay Video ISRAEL AGREES TO CEASEFIREPlay Video Related Stories Shells hit UN school in Gaza, kill 15 Associated Press Strike On Gaza Market Kills At Least 15: Palestinian Official Huffington Post Gaza medics: 15 killed in Israeli airstrikeAssociated Press Israeli strike kills 15 Palestinians near Gaza market: health official Reuters Shelling of UN school kills 15 as Gaza war ragesAssociated Press

JEBALIYA REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip (AP) — Gaza health officials say 15 people have been killed and more than 150 wounded by an Israeli airstrike in a crowded shopping area.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

Gaza health ministry official Ashraf al-Kidra says the area was busy Wednesday because residents thought a cease-fire was in place. The Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed the death toll.

Israel had earlier announced a "humanitarian window" in certain parts of the territory. It said it would not halt fire in other areas, including in Shijaiyah, where the strike took place.

Gaza militants had fired several rockets at Israel earlier.

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15 dead as Israeli airstrike hits Gaza market area

Over 150 are wounded after an apparent misunderstanding over a ceasefire.

No comment from Israel

Washington (AFP) - Al-Qaeda is increasingly funding terror operations thanks to at least $125 million in ransom paid since 2008, largely by European governments to free western hostages, the New York Times reported.

The payments totalled $66 million in 2013 alone, according to an investigation by the newspaper published Tuesday.

While Al-Qaeda's network was first funded by wealthy donors, "kidnapping for ransom has become today’s most significant source of terrorist financing," said David S. Cohen, the Treasury Department’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, in a 2012 speech.

"Each transaction encourages another transaction."

The organization has openly acknowledged the windfall, the paper reported.

"Kidnapping hostages is an easy spoil," wrote Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, "which I may describe as a profitable trade and a precious treasure."

Al Qaeda growing rich from secret ransoms?Play Video

Al-Wuhayshi said ransom money -- reaching around $10 million per hostage in recent cases -- accounts for up to half his operating budget.

The paper listed more than $90 million paid to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb since 2008 -- by a Switzerland, Spain, Austria, and state-controlled French company and two payments from undetermined sources.

Somalia's Shebab insurgents received $5.1 million from Spain, while Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula received nearly $30 million in two payments, one from Qatar and Oman, the other of undetermined origin.

Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland each denied ever paying ransoms for hostages. French nuclear company Areva also denied paying ransom.

However, last year a former senior French intelligence official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity: "Governments and companies pay in almost every case."

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An image taken on April 16, 2014 from a video released by Al-Malahem Media, the media arm of Al-Qaed …

"There is always a ransom or an exchange of some sort: money, the release of prisoners, arms deliveries."

The Times article cited former hostages, negotiators, diplomats and government officials in 10 countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and said the payments were sometimes hidden as development aid.

The United States and Britain have notably refused to pay to free kidnapped nationals, the paper reported, with the result that just a few have been rescued in military raids or escaped.

However, the United States has been willing to negotiate in some cases, including the recent trade of five senior Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo in exchange for captured US soldier Bowe Bergdahl.

"The Europeans have a lot to answer for," Vicki Huddleston, the former United States deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs, who was the ambassador to Mali in 2003 when Germany paid the first ransom, told the Times.

"They pay ransoms and then deny any was paid," arguing the policy "makes all of our citizens vulnerable."

G8 leaders last year signed a deal to "unequivocally reject the payment of ransoms to terrorists" but did not impose a formal ban.

BEIRUT (AP) — The Syrian government is still indiscriminately bombing civilians with explosives-filled barrels in defiance of a U.N. Security Council resolution, an international human rights group said Wednesday.

The Human Rights Watch statement came as the Security Council was expected to meet for a fifth round of reporting on the resolution — and at least 11 people were killed by the bombs overnight.

February's resolution demanded a halt to all attacks against civilians as well as indiscriminate shelling and aerial bombardment — including the use of so-called barrel bombs — in populated areas. The crude weapons — barrels packed with explosives and scraps of metal that are pushed out of helicopters — cannot be precisely targeted. They have caused widespread civilian casualties as they hit homes, schools and open markets.

The New York-based group says it has documented over 650 strikes on rebel-held neighborhoods in the northern city of Aleppo since the resolution's adoption. It noted in the report that opposition fighters also carry out indiscriminate attacks, including mortar strikes and car bombings.

Barrel bombs on Aleppo have killed more than 2,000 people this year, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists inside the war-torn country.

Six people were killed by barrel bombs in the Aleppo neighborhood of Bab Neirab overnight, including an elderly man, three women and a child, the Observatory reported. Another barrel bomb hit the Aleppo neighborhood of Saliheen, killing five people and burying another eight under rubble, the Observatory said. A Syrian activist who uses the name Saleh confirmed the strikes, but not the death tolls. Conflicting death tolls are common in the chaotic aftermath of such events.

Tens of thousands of Syrians have fled Aleppo since the pace of the barrel bombings accelerated in December.

"Month after month, the Security Council has sat idly by as the government defied its demands with new barrel bomb attacks on Syrian civilians," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Russia and China need to allow the Security Council to show the same resolve and unanimity it brought to the issue of humanitarian aid to call a halt to these deadly attacks on civilians."

Also Wednesday, an explosives-rigged vehicle exploded in a neighborhood of the central city of Homs, killing two people, state-run news reported. The Observatory said the neighborhood's population is mainly Alawite. President Bashar Assad hails from the country's Alawite minority, whose faith is an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

Over 170,000 people have been killed in Syria in more than three years of fighting, activists say.

___

Associated Press writer Diaa Hadid contributed to this report.

A human rights group says it has documented over 650 strikes on rebel-held areas in Aleppo.
U.N. action pending

Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - More than 100 Palestinians were killed Wednesday in the bomb-scarred Gaza Strip, among them victims of Israeli fire on a crowded market and a United Nations school.

The United States and United Nations condemned the school shelling and Hamas said it fired a salvo of rockets into Israel in retaliation for both attacks. At least 17 people were killed in the strike on the market in Shejaiya, near Gaza City, as Israel observed a four-hour humanitarian lull in other parts of the crowded coastal strip.

Thick black smoke billowed over the site as ambulances raced to the scene where bodies lay strewn on the ground, an AFP correspondent said.

At least 200 people were wounded in the strike, medics said, on a day that saw at least 111 people killed.

Early Thursday two more people died of wounds sustained previously, bringing the death toll from 23 days of unrelenting Israeli attacks to 1,363.

Hamas said Wednesday it fired rockets at Tel Aviv and the southern port city of Ashkelon "in response to the Jabalia and Shejaiya massacres", referring to the market and the school, in the north of the strip.

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An Israeli artillery gun fires a shell towards targets from their position near Israel's border …

The Israeli military said that a rocket hit open ground "in the Tel Aviv area" and another two were intercepted over Ashkelon.

It said that a total of 128 rockets fell in Israel on Wednesday, with another nine shot down by missile defences and that Israel hit 88 targets in Gaza.

Israel had said its truce, which began at 1200 GMT, would not apply in places were troops were "currently operating", hours after the army made what it called a "significant advance" into the narrow coastal strip.

Hamas denounced the four-hour lull as a publicity stunt, saying it had "no value".

- Furious response -

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A Palestinian hugs his father who was wounded in an Israeli strike on a compound housing a UN school …

The market strike came hours after Israeli tank shells slammed into a UN school in Jabalia refugee camp which was sheltering some 3,300 homeless Gazans, killing 16 and drawing a furious response from the United Nations.

"This morning a UN school sheltering thousands of Palestinian families suffered a reprehensible attack," UN chief Ban Ki-moon said on a visit to Costa Rica.

"It is unjustifiable, and demands accountability and justice."

The attack was also denounced by the White House in a carefully worded statement that avoided mentioning Israel.

"The United States condemns the shelling of a UNRWA school in Gaza, which reportedly killed and injured innocent Palestinians, including children, and UN humanitarian workers," a statement said.

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Flyers are dropped over Gaza City by the Israeli army urging residents to evacuate their homes on Ju …

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas wrote to Ban decrying Israel's "institutionalised disregard for Palestinian life" and urging him "to take all necessary and effective measures to provide the Palestinian people with international protection".

His letter, a copy of which was sent to AFP, accuses Israel of "war crimes" and "a terrorising campaign of mass murder".

Rights group Amnesty International urged Washington to halt arms supplies to Israel.

"It is time for the US government to urgently suspend arms transfers to Israel and to push for a UN arms embargo on all parties to the conflict," it said in a petition to US Secretary of State John Kerry.

- 'No protection' -

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A Palestinian man battles a building on fire following several Israeli strikes on Gaza City on July …

"They're bombing houses, homes, schools -- there's no protection," said Moin al-Athamna, who was at the school when the attack occurred.

It was the second time in a week that a school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees was hit, prompting a blistering attack on Israel by UNRWA Commissioner General Pierre Krahenbuhl.

"I condemn in the strongest possible terms this serious violation of international law by Israeli forces," he said, indicating the school's location had been communicated to the Israeli army 17 times.

"No words to adequately express my anger and indignation," he wrote on his official Twitter account, describing it as "intolerable".

In Israel, the army said three soldiers were killed in Gaza, raising the overall number of soldiers killed to 56 since the operation began on July 8.

Public radio quoted Major General Sami Turgeman, the senior officer for the Gaza region, as saying that the destruction of militants' remaining tunnels into Israel could be complete "in a few days".

Israel has said uncovering and destroying an apparently sophisticated network of tunnels is a primary goal of its assault.

- Israeli team in Cairo -

But there appeared to be no Israeli appetite for a truce, despite an hours-long meeting of the security cabinet, with a senior official telling Haaretz newspaper that the Jewish state was not even close to a ceasefire.

"When a ceasefire proposal that answers Israel's important needs is laid on the table, it will be considered," he said, warning that the military operation would expand.

"The (military) will expand attacks against Hamas and the rest of the terror organisations."

Nevertheless, a two-member Israeli delegation arrived in Cairo late Wednesday to discuss a possible ceasefire with Egyptian officials, an official at the airport told AFP, saying they were expected to leave after several hours.

Cairo, a key mediator in previous truce negotiations between Israel and Hamas, was also expected to host a Palestinian delegation later this week.

Public radio said that the full Israeli cabinet would convene on Thursday for the first time since the start of the Gaza operation.

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U.S., European Union broaden sanctions against Russia

Moscow (AFP) - A defiant Russia said Wednesday that Western sanctions over Ukraine would backfire on the United States and lead to energy price hikes in Europe after Brussels and Washington unveiled the toughest punitive measures against Moscow since the Cold War.

Russia's response came as the Ukrainian military pushed on with its offensive against pro-Russian rebels in the east, retaking the town of Avdiyivka, only a dozen kilometres (eight miles) from the main rebel city of Donetsk.

The Russian foreign ministry warned the United States it was shooting itself in the foot and said it was punishing the Kremlin for "independent policies that Washington finds inconvenient."

Moscow also warned that European consumers would bear the brunt of sanctions targeting Russia's vital energy, arms and finance sectors.

"This is a thoughtless, irresponsible step. It will inevitably lead to an increase in prices on the European energy market," the foreign ministry said.

Moscow also dismissed claims it was responsible for supplying the missile that downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

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Convoy of the OSCE mission in Ukraine travel outside the city of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine Wednesday, …

Meanwhile the fighting between Kiev forces and rebels prevented a Dutch and Australian police contingent from visiting the crash site for the fourth day running.

The head of the Dutch recovery mission said it was unlikely the security situation would improve enough "over the next few days" to reach the site, where the remains of some of the 298 victims still lie nearly two weeks on.

"There is still too much fighting in the area," Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg told reporters in Kiev.

One Ukrainian soldier was killed and 11 wounded over the past 24 hours, according to authorities.

- G7 warning -

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A Malaysian air crash investigator takes pictures of wreckage at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines …

Later Wednesday the European Union piled on asset freezes and travel bans against eight individuals including two close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin who are leading shareholders in Rossiya Bank, which caters to senior Russian officials.

And the Group of Seven major developed economies warned that Russia faces still tougher sanctions if it does not change course.

"Russia still has the opportunity to choose the path of de-escalation," the G7 powers said in a joint statement released by the White House.

"If it does not do so, however, we remain ready to further intensify the costs of its adverse actions."

Russia provided few details of possible retaliation but earlier Wednesday its agricultural watchdog banned the import of all fruit and vegetables from EU member Poland, one of the staunchest supporters of Kiev's pro-Western course.

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Children walk past a piece of wreckage from the Malaysia Airlines jet downed over Ukraine, in Petrop …

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia was struggling to understand the West's logic, insisting Russia was doing everything to help mediate talks between Ukrainian authorities and Moscow-backed rebels.

"What exactly are our partners seeking?" he said on a visit to Tajikistan.

The restrictions will hinder access for Russian state-owned banks to European financial markets, forcing borrowing costs higher and hobbling an already struggling economy.

But Russian banks put on a brave face, saying their operations would not be affected and that they would seek funding outside the United States and Europe.

And Russian markets rallied Wednesday, with investors relieved that the Western sanctions were not even tougher. The main stock indices gained around two percent and the ruble firmed against the dollar and the euro.

3 Long-time Putin Cronies Hit With EU SanctionsPlay Video

- 'Driven into corner' -

Existing contracts including France's 1.2 billion euro ($1.6 billion) deal to deliver two Mistral warships to Russia will be exempt from sanctions, and Paris said it would go ahead with the sale of the first vessel.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Russia would build the second Mistral-class vessel itself if Paris puts the contract on ice.

Some EU diplomats and Russia experts expressed concern that tighter sanctions may in fact embolden Putin, convincing him that he no longer has anything to lose by further escalating the Ukraine conflict.

"The confrontation will increase abruptly. Putin has been practically driven into a corner, and this man does not make concessions under pressure," Nikolai Petrov of the Higher School of Economics told AFP.

Fuelling the concern, NATO's top commander, General Philip Breedlove, said Wednesday that Russia had boosted the number of troops along the border with Ukraine to "well over 12,000" and the number was on the rise.

In addition, Russian weaponry contingents in the crisis area include "every kind of weapon, supplies, man portable weapons, field weapons, armoured vehicles, all of the weapons," he said on a visit to Kosovo.

The troop presence had dropped to fewer than 1,000 in June.

In addition to the financial markets, EU sanctions also banned future sales of weapons and dual-use technologies, especially in the key energy sector.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko gave the go-ahead for Kiev's representatives to travel to Belarus on Thursday for possible talks over access to the MH17 crash site.

Top separatist Andrei Purgin said he would likely take part in the talks if they happen, adding that the rebels want Ukrainian forces to withdraw entirely from their territory.

Kiev said it does not plan to take back the crash site by force.