As the bloody battles pushed up tragic death tolls on both sides, world powers held a flurry of diplomatic meetings Wednesday aimed at halting the fighting in Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders as well as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, while several Middle Eastern nations worked to try to win Hamas' agreement for an Egyptian-led cease-fire. But perhaps the most powerful message came from a woman whose son's death played a role in sparking the current fighting. "Your children and our children -- nobody should really go through what we're going through now," said Rachel Fraenkel, whose son Naftali was among three Jewish teens kidnapped and killed on the way home from school in the West Bank last month. Israel blamed Hamas. Later, a Palestinian teen was killed in what Israel calls a revenge attack. Israel has indicted an adult and two minors for the killing.
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U.N. Secretary-General calls for militants to stop placing rockets at schools
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Mother of Israeli-American teen killed sends message to Palestinian parents
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35 killed in Israel including 32 soldiers, Israel says
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695 Palestinians killed since beginning of renewed hostilities, the Gaza Health Ministry says
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Afterward, speaking to media, she said, "I just want to turn to Palestinian parents and say maybe you can stop @placeholder from using you as human shields and your death as propaganda."
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"I promise the Palestinian parents: All we want is to live in peace and raise our children without threats of missiles or tunnels under our communities," noting that an @placeholder kindergarten was struck by a rocket this week -- it was empty at the time.
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Despite @placeholder's sentiments, many Palestinian parents accuse Israel of carrying out a "massacre" -- and have called on Israelis to push the government to stop military action.
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Despite Fraenkel's sentiments, many Palestinian parents accuse @placeholder of carrying out a "massacre" -- and have called on Israelis to push the government to stop military action.
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Palestinians have disputed Israeli and @placeholder assertions that many of the deaths are due to people choosing to be part of human shields.