Zionists’ war crimes – killing children on the beach

They were all under the age of 15... When the first shell hit the land, they ran away but another shell hit them all. It looked as if the shells were chasing them."

NBC News correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin reported that the four children killed were from the same family, aged between 9 and 11-years-old. An Israeli spokesperson told Reuters they were checking the report of the attack. A spokesman for the Gaza Health Ministry called it a "cowardly crime".

Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas, told reporters: "These crimes will not succeed to break our will. We will continue the confrontation and resistance and we promise (Israel) will pay the price for all these crimes."

On wednesday, more than 70 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel, with the Iron Dome missile defence system shooting down 23, according to Israeli officials. IDF troops remain amassed at the Gaza border, with Netanyahu threatening a ground invasion should the rockets into Israel not stop. 

On Tuesday, Hamas dismissed a peace proposal, brokered by Egypt, in which a 12-hour de-escalation was proposed. Israel agreed to the cease-fire plan, however Hamas, weary of the new regime in Cairo, rejected the plan, firing scores of rockets into Israel at the time the cease-fire was proposed to start. 

Since the offensive began, 207 Palestinians have died from the Israeli air assault, mostly civilians. One Israeli has died from the daily rockets fired from Gaza into the Israeli heartland.