According to the United Nations, thousands of Palestinians are fleeing northern parts of Gaza after Israel warned it was targeting the area in its campaign to stop rocket attacks.
The UN says 17,000 people have sought refuge in its facilities as Israeli air strikes continue for a sixth day.
Thousands of Palestinians are fleeing northern parts of Gaza after Israel warned it was targeting the area in its campaign to stop rocket attacks
Israeli forces have raided a suspected rocket-launching site in Gaza in their first reported ground incursion.
At least 159 Palestinians have been killed since Israel’s offensive began, according to health officials in Gaza.
The dead are said to include 17 members of one family who died in an Israeli missile strike on Saturday evening.
Israel says it is targeting Hamas militants and “terror sites”, including the homes of senior operatives. However, the United Nations has estimated that 77% of the people killed in Gaza have been civilians.
The UN Security Council called for a ceasefire and peace talks on Saturday.
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President Barack Obama has rebuked Republican candidate Mitt Romney, saying that anyone seeking to be president needs to work for all Americans.
Barack Obama told chat show host David Letterman that Mitt Romney was wrong to describe 47% of Americans as “victims”.
Earlier, Mitt Romney defended his remarks after secretly filmed video of a speech to donors became public.
He told Fox News he knew those “dependent on government” would not vote for him in November’s election.
Mitt Romney also decried the notion of government “redistribution”, calling it an “entirely foreign concept”.
Barack Obama told David Letterman that Mitt Romney was wrong to describe 47 percent of Americans as victims
More leaked video emerged on Tuesday, showing Mitt Romney saying Palestinians do not want peace in the Middle East.
The full video of the Florida fundraiser was also published by liberal investigative magazine Mother Jones.
In Tuesday’s Fox interview, Mitt Romney stood by his comments about the 47% of Americans who do not pay income tax. He said they support President Barack Obama and would never vote for him. He said his statement was “about the campaign”.
“I’m talking about a perspective of individuals who are not likely to support me,” he said.
“Those that are dependent on government and those that think government’s job is to redistribute, I’m not going to get them,” Mitt Romney said.
Mitt Romney says he expects Barack Obama to receive about half of the vote in the November election because of these voters.
The real problem, he added, was that so many people were not eligible to pay income tax because they had fallen into poverty.
Recent polls indicate that the election is likely to be a close contest, although an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released on Tuesday evening showed that Barack Obama’s approval rate has hit 50% for the first time since March.
In addition, the poll put the president ahead of Mitt Romney by 5% among likely voters polled across the nation. The poll had a margin of error of 3.6%.
On David Letterman’s show, Barack Obama said he told the US on election night in 2008 he would work for everyone, including those who did not vote for them.
“One thing I’ve learnt as president is you represent the entire country,” he said.
“There are not a lot of people out there who think they are victims” or simply entitled to benefits, Barack Obama said.
Barack Obama’s rebuke came at the end of a day in which more clips of Mitt Romney’s fundraising address emerged. In one, Mitt Romney said the Palestinians are “committed to Israel’s destruction”.
“The Palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace,” he says in the video, adding that “the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish”.
But chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters news agency that Mitt Romney was wrong to accuse the Palestinians of not seeking peace.
“Only those who want to maintain the Israeli occupation will claim the Palestinians are not interested in peace,” he said.
In another clip, the former Massachusetts governor is shown discussing Iran’s nuclear programme, and warning that America itself could come under attack.
The first clips released on Monday showed the Republican candidate saying those who did not pay income tax would never vote for him.
“There are 47% who are with him [Barack Obama], who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it,” he said.
Mitt Romney said in the video that his role “is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
The video clips provided to Mother Jones are said to have been filmed at a $50,000 per head fundraiser at some point after Mitt Romney became the presumptive Republican nominee.
They were made public as the Romney campaign announced a new shift in strategy after several difficult days for the candidate.
Campaign advisers told the US media on Monday that Mitt Romney would speak more specifically about his budget plans and tax policy.
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A new secret video clip has emerged of remarks by Mitt Romney, saying the Palestinians are committed to Israel’s destruction.
The Republican candidate tells donors the Middle East will “remain an unsolved problem… and we kick the ball down the field”.
The video is from the same event as a clip released on Monday, in which Mitt Romney says almost half of Americans “believe that they are victims”.
It comes less than two months before the presidential election.
The new footage was posted on Tuesday on the website of the liberal investigative magazine Mother Jones, which said it was taken at a fundraiser in Boca Raton, Florida.
A new secret video clip has emerged of remarks by Mitt Romney, saying the Palestinians are committed to Israel's destruction
Mitt Romney is shown saying that Palestinians are “committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel”.
“The Palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace,” he says, adding that “the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish“.
In another clip, the former Massachusetts governor is shown discussing Iran’s nuclear programme, and warning that America itself could come under attack.
“If I were Iran – a crazed fanatic, I’d say let’s get a little fissile material to Hezbollah, have them carry it to Chicago or some other place, and then if anything goes wrong, or America starts acting up, we’ll just say, <<Guess what? Unless you stand down, why, we’re going to let off a dirty bomb>>.”
On Monday, Mother Jones posted another clip from the same fundraiser in which Mitt Romney disparages those who would vote for his Democratic rival, President Barack Obama.
The Republican candidate is shown saying that the 47% of Americans who back the president do not pay income tax and would never vote for Mitt Romney.
“There are 47% who are with him [Barack Obama], who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it.”
Mitt Romney said in the video that his role “is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
In a late-night appearance on Monday, the Republican candidate said those remarks were not “elegantly stated”, but did not retract them.
The Obama campaign was quick to pounce.
“It’s hard to serve as president for all Americans when you’ve disdainfully written off half the nation,” Jim Messina, Barack Obama’s campaign manager, said in a statement.
The video clips provided to Mother Jones are said to have been filmed at a $50,000 a head fundraiser at some point after Mitt Romney became the presumptive Republican nominee.
The pictures are blurred out with the exception of his face, and no attendees are visible.
Also on Monday, Mitt Romney’s campaign unveiled a significant reworking of its strategy less than two months before election day.
Until now his message to voters has largely consisted of repeated attacks on President Barack Obama’s economic record.
Campaign advisers told the US media on Monday that Mitt Romney would speak more specifically about his budget plans and tax policy.
The videos bookended a difficult 24 hours for the Romney campaign. On Sunday, a lengthy Politico story detailed apparent divisions and indecision within the campaign.
A series of opinion polls at the end of last week showed Mitt Romney trailing Barack Obama both nationally and in several swing states.
The two men square off in the election on 6 November, but early voting begins soon in several states.
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