Gaza families plead for evacuation amid battle
By Associated Press
Jul 23, 2014 2:15 AM CDT
Israeli soldiers kneel during a drill near the Israel and Gaza border, Tuesday, July 22, 2014. Israeli airstrikes pummeled a wide range of targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday as the U.N. chief and the U.S. secretary of state began an intensive effort to end more than two weeks of fighting that has...   (Associated Press)

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Dozens of Palestinian families trapped by clashes between Hamas militants and Israeli troops are scrambling to flee a southern Gaza Strip neighborhood as Israel reported that two more of its soldiers have died in the conflict.

The Palestinian Red Crescent says it's trying to evacuate about 250 people from near Khan Younis, which has been under Israeli tank shelling and drones strikes since early Wednesday.

As the fighting near Khan Younis rages, the military says two more soldiers have been killed, raising the military's death toll to 29.

The circumstances of the latest military casualties were not immediately clear. Two Israeli civilians have also died in the 15-day conflict.

The fighting has killed at least 630 Palestinians.

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