Israeli airstrikes continue to kill Palestinians in the Gaza Strip — at least five on Thursday. The dead include 75-year old woman whose home was hit by an Israeli missile. Funerals have become a daily phenomenon. Two young children and their mother were laid to rest Thursday. They were among the 24 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes the day before. It was the highest single-day Palestinian death toll in two weeks. At least 149 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s month-long assault following the capture of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. On Thursday, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh rejected the comments from Palestinian President Mahmound Abbas that a deal for Shalit’s release is imminent.

• Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh: “The Palestinian government has said from the beginning the subject of the prisoner soldier should be solved on the basis of diplomatic negotiations and on the basis that there are 10,000 Palestinian prisoners suffering inside the Israeli prisons. We said that this issue should find a fair, just and equal solution.”