Israel threatens Gaza ground invasion as attacks intensify

Israel on May 13 said it was massing troops along the Gaza frontier and calling up 9,000 reservists ahead of a possible ground invasion, as two sides plunged closer to all-out war. Egyptian mediators rushed to Israel for cease-fire efforts but showed no signs of progress.

Early on May 14, the Israeli military said air and ground troops struck Gaza in what appeared to be the heaviest attacks yet.

Masses of red flames illuminated the skies as the deafening blasts from the outskirts of Gaza City jolted people awake. The strikes were so strong that screams of fear could be heard from people inside the city, several kilometers away.

The latest casualties took the death toll to 119, according to a statement by Gaza's Health Ministry.

The fatalities included 31 children and 19 women, while the number of injured rose to 830, according to a statement from the ministry.

Israel continues to target Gaza with heavy bombardment, which has also caused heavy damage to residential buildings across the enclave.

To date, seven Israelis have been killed in the recent violence - six of them in rocket attacks, in addition to a soldier killed when an anti-tank guided missile struck his jeep.

A father and his three children were killed in airstrikes by Israeli forces on the Gaza Strip early on May 14. 

According to civil defense teams, the Israeli army heavily bombarded the northern part of Gaza, including the town of Beit Lahia, where the bodies of the father and his sons were recovered from the rubble of a building that collapsed.

The teams are continuing their rescue efforts among several buildings that collapsed during the attack. 

Dozens of Israelis on May 13 attacked Palestinian homes in the central Israeli city...