In international news, the Israeli government is being accused of a new massacre with the killing of at least eighteen Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. Another forty people were wounded. Ten children and seven women are among the dead. Thirteen of the dead were members of the same family. The attack occurred earlier today in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanun. The victims were sleeping when Israeli artillery shells slammed into their homes.

Beit Hanun resident: “Why is all of this happening? Where is the international community and America. This is a genocide, a genocide.”

The attack comes just one day after Israel said it had ended its week-long assault on Gaza that killed at least sixty Palestinians. Hamas government spokesperson Ghazi Hamad called on the United Nations to expel Israel over the attacks.

Hamas government spokesperson Ghazi Hamad: “I think this is an indescribable crime. This confirms that Israel is not a human being state–it is an animal state. These people are coming just for kill, just for murder, just to increase the number of victims, just to make more massacres in the Palestinian territories. It is just kind of retaliation and revenge against our people.”

At least two Hamas officials called on Palestinians to resume attacks inside Israel, including suicide bombings. Meanwhile, Hamas leaders have repudiated a call from the group’s military wing for attacks on the United States. Israel says it shelled Beit Hanun to stop Palestinian rockets from hitting Israeli towns. Israeli government spokesperson Miri Eisin vowed the attacks will continue.

Israeli government spokesperson Miri Eisin: “We will continue with our operations in the Gaza Strip to stop the rocket firing, to stop the terrorist attacks and to stop the smuggling of weapons. We will try and do so in a targetted, pin-pointed manner as much as we can.”