Four-Year-Old Israeli Child, 76 Palestinians Among Recently Killed as Conflict Continues

A four-year-old Israeli child was reportedly killed by mortar fire in southern Israel near the Gaza border on Friday afternoon, the latest casualty of renewed violence between Israel and Hamas that has disproportionately claimed Palestinian lives.

Since hostilities resumed Tuesday, 76 Palestinians have been killed, according to Ashraf el-Qedra, spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, bringing the total death toll since the conflict began in early July to 2,092 Palestinians—about 75 percent of them civilians and more than 450 of them children—and 68 Israelis, all but four of them soldiers.

Also Friday, Reuters reported that Hamas-led gunmen in Gaza executed 18 Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel, “accelerating a crackdown on suspected informers after Israeli forces tracked down and killed three senior Hamas commanders” on Thursday.

In response to the child’s death, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “Hamas will pay a heavy price for this attack.” He vowed that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shin Bet security service will “intensify” operations against Hamas “until the goal of Protective Edge is achieved.”