Ukraine Rebels 'Getting More Powerful Weapons'

The US has accused Russia of preparing to give "even more powerful rocket launchers" to Ukrainian separatists blamed for shooting down a Malaysia Airlines plane.

The rebels are said to have used a BUK missile, supplied by Moscow, to hit flight MH17 over the east of the country, mistaking it for a Ukrainian plane.

The US has warned of a significant build-up of Russian troops along the border amid fears of a possible "peacekeeping" incursion to support the increasingly embattled separatists fighting government forces.

It comes as President Barack Obama and leaders from Britain, Germany, France and Italy agreed to impose a wider set of sanctions against Russia's financial, defence and energy sectors.

Fighting is continuing in eastern Ukraine

Until now, the EU sanctions have not been as tough as the American ones as Europe is more reliant on deals with Russia.

The new penalties are aimed at putting more pressure on President Vladimir Putin.

Tony Blinken, a national security adviser to Mr Obama, said: "We've seen convoys of tanks, multiple rocket launchers, artillery, and armoured vehicles.

"There's evidence it's preparing to deliver even more powerful multiple rocket launchers."

Armed pro-Russian separatists stand guard in Shakhtarsk, Donetsk

He added: "We've seen a significant rebuild up of Russian forces along the border, potentially positioning Russia for a so-called humanitarian or peacekeeping intervention in Ukraine."

The US earlier released satellite images it claimed show rockets have been fired at Ukraine from within Russia.

The images, which come from the US Director of National Intelligence and have not been independently verified, also purport to show that heavy artillery for pro-Russian separatists has crossed the border.

Flight MH17 suffered a massive explosive decompression, says Ukraine

The rebels deny they were responsible for the July 17 downing of the airliner, which killed all 298 people on board, including 10 Britons, whose families are set to meet Prime Minister David Cameron.

Moscow has also denied allegations of involvement in eastern Ukraine, claiming the US is conducting "an unrelenting campaign of slander against Russia, ever more relying on open lies".

Black box data from the plane reveals it crashed due to a "massive explosive decompression" after being hit by shrapnel from a missile, claims a Ukrainian security official.

And the UN has said the shooting down of the airliner may amount to a war crime.

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Russia Accused As Ossetia 'Fenced Off'

By Katie Stallard, Moscow Correspondent

As the crisis in Ukraine continues, Russia has been accused of attempting to exert pressure elsewhere in its former sphere of influence.

Russian border guards are constructing a vast "security fence" across disputed territory in the former Soviet state of Georgia, establishing a de facto border around the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

Georgia says the move is a creeping annexation of its territory and a violation of its sovereignty.

Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war over the region in 2008.

Russia is one of the few countries to recognise South Ossetia as an independent state and supports it both economically and militarily - most other countries and the government in Tbilisi consider it to be part of Georgia.

Amiran Gugutishvili whose orchard has been fenced off

Construction of the fence has accelerated over the last twelve months, as Georgia moved towards signing a free trade deal with the European Union.

The fence divides villages, and in some cases houses, separating families from their livelihoods and neighbours.

We met 66-year-old Amerin Gugutishvili in the village of Gugutiankari, where he has lived all his life.

He showed us his beloved home, which was burned out in the 2008 war.

"Every time I come here I lose five years of my life," he said, wiping tears from his eyes with his cap.

But after the war, came the fence.

One day he found Russian troops fencing off the orchard which had been his main source of income for the last three decades.

They told him the land was in South Ossetia now, and that he would be arrested if he tried to cross.

"They were with automatic weapons," he told us.

"What could I say? I don't have an automatic rifle.

"I am just an ordinary person, they are with rifles."

So now he has no choice but to watch the fruit rot on the trees.

David Vanishvili, 80, who finds himself in South Ossetia

It's too dangerous to rebuild the house so close to the fence, you can be detained for going too close, so they're living in an old school with three other families.

It is immaculately tidy and Amiran's wife, Tina, has tried to make it as nice as she can, but she is ashamed that they are living like this.

"We worked a lot and now we are trapped," he explained. "They left us without the house, they burned it."

"Without the house and without the orchard," Tina continued. "They fenced off our orchard."

"In winter it's very cold, there's no wood."

She showed us a picture of her five-year-old grandchild, Andriy.

"He's a lovely boy," she said, "My happy light, my star, everything, the only happiness, the rest is war."

In another village, on the far side of the fence, we found an 80-year-old man.

David Vanishvili was born in what he thought was Georgia in 1934, he doesn't understand how he's ended up in South Ossetia, behind layers of razor wire.

"I'm like a prisoner here," he told us through the fence, "Can't go here, can't go there."

"They said it's South Ossetia now."

He told us his pension is paid in the Georgian currency, lari, but the shops over there only take Russian rubles.

"I can't buy bread, salt, they don't accept Georgian money - how can I live like that?"

The EU has a monitoring mission here, deployed as part of the ceasefire agreement in 2008.

Georgia and South Ossetia (borders are approximate and some are disputed)

They patrol and record the ongoing construction of the fence, and the impact it's having on the lives of people here, but their powers are strictly limited.

The monitors are unarmed and have no access to the breakaway region so cannot travel to the far side of the fence.

Both the US and Nato have condemned the construction of the fence, but Russia says South Ossetia has the "unassailable right" to take such measures to "ensure the security of its borders and its citizens."

South Ossetia delegated control of its border to Russia in 2009, citing the absence of its own border force.

Georgia says all this has little to do with the sovereignty or otherwise of South Ossetia, and everything to do with Russia projecting its power, and maintaining a military presence on its border.

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Hamas Leader's House 'Hit By Israeli Missile'

The home of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has been hit by an Israeli missile, during the heaviest night of bombardment in three weeks of fighting.

An Israeli aircraft struck at Mr Haniyeh's house early this morning causing damage but no casualties, Gaza's Interior Ministry said.

Mr Haniyeh's son confirmed the strike on his Facebook page but added that the house of the former Hamas Gaza prime minister was empty.

A Palestinian girl at the scene of an explosion that killed nine children

Haniyeh said in a statement. "My house is not more valuable than the houses of other people. Destroying stones will not break our determination."

Israeli aircraft, tanks and gunboats pounded targets in Gaza City that were symbols of Hamas government control, including the headquarters of the Hamas satellite TV station Al Aqsa and Al Aqsa radio. 

The Al Aqsa TV headquaters after being hit by an Israeli shell

Hamas said that despite the attack the stations continued to broadcast. 

As night fell over Gaza City, Israeli flares illuminated the sky to the sound of intense shelling.

A number of rockets fired from Gaza were launched toward various regions in southern and central Israel, including the Tel Aviv area.

An Israeli soldier hurt in a mortar attack is stretchered away by comrades

At least one of the rockets was intercepted by the Iron Dome system. 

The Israeli military warned thousands of Palestinians to flee their homes in areas around Gaza City - usually the prelude to major army strikes.

A building within Gaza port is seen on fire after several missile strikes

In two separate incidents, 10 Israeli soldiers were killed following attacks by Hamas on the border during firefights with Hamas militants who infiltrated Israel through tunnels near the community of Nahal Oz.

Israeli Army Radio said the Hamas gunmen fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the soldiers who were in a watchtower and then tried to drag one of the soldiers' bodies into the tunnel back to Gaza, but failed when troops fired at them, killing one militant.

Hamas said nine of its fighters carried out the attack.

Israeli soldiers with the coffin of their comrade Liad Lavi

Two rockets struck Gaza's main hospital and the other a refugee camp, killing nine children. Palestinians said the rockets were fired by Israel, while Israel said the rockets were misfired by Hamas.

A Palestinian official said at least 10 people were killed in the strike on the camp, and a further 46 injured.

However, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) denied responsibility for the attacks and said it had not been operating in the area.

Lavi died from wounds sustained last week while fighting in Gaza

Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerne said claims the IDF was responsible were "ridiculous".

The IDF also tweeted: "Since the beginning of the operation #IDF has documented approximately 200 rockets & mortars that landed short within #Gaza."

Gaza's electricity company has claimed two Israeli tank shells have hit the fuel tank of Gaza main power station.

Firefighters in Gaza battle a fire started after a rocket attack

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei this morning accused Israel of committing "genocide" in Gaza and called on the Islamic world to arm Palestinians fighting "the Zionist regime".

Israel started its offensive against Gaza on July 8, declaring its aim was to halt rockets fired by Hamas and its allies into Israel.

But Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was widening the objectives, adding the only solution would be a complete demilitarisation of the Gaza.

"We will not finish the operation without neutralising the tunnels, which have the sole purpose of destroying our citizens, killing our children," he said.

A Palestinian health official said the overall Gaza death toll stands at 1,110.

Israel said a total of 53 soldiers have been killed, including two civilians and a Thai national.

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MH17: Victim's Parents Visit Crash Scene

The parents of one of the victims of the Malaysia Airlines plane disaster in eastern Ukraine have travelled from Australia to the crash site to honour their daughter.

Fatima Dyczynski, 25, was among 298 people on board flight MH17 when it came down on July 17 while travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

She had been making her way to Australia to see her parents.

Jerzy Dyczynski and Angela Rudhart-Dyczynski crossed territory held by pro-Russian rebels to reach the area where the wreckage came down in fields outside the village of Hrabove.

The couple appeared emotional at the crash scene

The couple, appearing emotional, walked among the debris and scorched earth and laid a large bouquet of flowers.

Mr Dyczynski, who wore a white T-shirt with a portrait of Fatima, said: "We are for peace. She (Fatima) was for peace, she is for peace and she will be forever for peace."

His wife said: "We have promised our daughter we will come here. We should have come here the minute it happened."

She added: "She was full of life," adding her daughter, an aerospace engineering student, used to want to be a pilot.

They last spoke to their daughter shortly before she boarded the doomed flight, where there were no survivors.

A section of the plane's fuselage

The couple, from Perth, had arrived on a minibus at the rebel-held zone, ignoring their government's safety warnings.

Some 28 Australians were killed in the tragedy, which has been blamed on separatists shooting down the airliner, mistaking it for a Ukrainian plane. The rebels denied they were responsible.

Investigators are still trying to get full access to the site as Dutch and Australian police head to the area to try to secure it.

Human remains are still at the scene more than a week after the aircraft came down, says Australia's Prime Minister.

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Israel Resumes Gaza Fighting After Rocket Fire

The Israeli military has resumed fighting in Gaza after accusing Hamas of violating an extended humanitarian truce.

Militants in Gaza fired a salvo of rockets across the border into Israel, which had threatened to retaliate if attacked.

In a statement the Israeli military said: "Following Hamas' incessant rocket fire throughout the humanitarian window, which was agreed upon for the welfare of the civilian population in Gaza, the (army)  will now resume its aerial, naval and ground activity in the Gaza Strip."

Residents in Gaza reported hearing heavy shelling east of Gaza City shortly after the announcement was made.

Israel has resumed its offensive in Gaza after a fragile truce

Israel had extended a ceasefire until midnight (10pm UK time) on Sunday at the United Nations' request, though troops would continue to demolish Hamas tunnels.

But Hamas had immediately rejected the truce.

"No humanitarian ceasefire is valid without Israeli tanks withdrawing from the Gaza Strip and without residents being able to return to their homes and ambulances carrying bodies being able to freely move around in Gaza," spokesman Fawzi Barhum said.

Hamas resumed rocket fire towards Israel after a 12-hour break in hostilities on Saturday.

Some 132 bodies were pulled from rubble in Gaza during Saturday's truce

Air raid sirens sounded in southern and central Israel warning of the incoming missiles.

Some 132 bodies were reportedly pulled from the rubble in Gaza during the lull, while the pause allowed Palestinians to stock up on supplies.

The resumption of rocket fire by Hamas led police to clear a protest in Tel Aviv, where thousands of Israelis were demonstrating against their government's military operation.

Anti-war protests also took place in London, Paris, Frankfurt and other cities.

Meanwhile, world leaders continue their attempt to thrash out a wider ceasefire in Paris.

More than 1,000 Palestinians have now died since Israel launched a military operation 19 days ago.

The Israeli army say a soldier was killed on Sunday by a shell fired from Gaza, taking to 43 the number of troops to die in combat. Three civilians have also been killed by rocket fire into Israel.

Israelis demonstrated against their government's military operation

On Friday Israel rejected a seven-day ceasefire backed by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

A top Pentagon intelligence official has warned that the destruction of Hamas would only lead to something more dangerous taking its place, as he offered a grim portrait of a period of enduring regional conflict.

The remarks by Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, the outgoing head of the Defence Intelligence Agency, came as Israeli ministers signalled that a comprehensive deal to end the 20-day-old conflict in the Gaza Strip appeared remote.

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Clegg: Russia Should Be Stripped Of World Cup

Russia should be stripped of the 2018 World Cup in the wake of the downing of flight MH17, according to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

He said it was "unthinkable" at present that the tournament could go ahead in the country blamed by the West for supplying arms to pro-Russian separatists suspected of shooting down the Malaysia Airlines plane over eastern Ukraine with 298 people on board.

Football's world governing body Fifa this week ruled out calls from some German politicians for Russia to be boycotted, insisting the tournament could be "a force for good".

President Putin is coming under increasing international pressure

But Mr Clegg told The Sunday Times that allowing it to go ahead without a change of course by Russian President Vladimir Putin would make the world look "so weak and so insincere" in its condemnation of Moscow's annexation of Crimea and support for the rebels.

"If there's one thing that Vladimir Putin cares about, as far as I can see, it's his sense of status," he said.

"Maybe reminding him that you can't retain the same status in the world if you ignore the rest of the world, maybe that will have some effect on his thinking."

Russia has reacted angrily to additional sanctions imposed by the EU, saying they would hamper co-operation on security issues and undermine the fight against terrorism and organised crime.

Russia's foreign ministry also accused the US of contributing to the conflict in Ukraine through its support for the pro-Western government in Kiev.

Meanwhile, a Malaysia Airlines official has called for the creation of a new body to decide which flight paths are safe following the downing of the Boeing 777-200.

This map shows the flight path of MH17 before it crashed

Hugh Dunleavy, the company's commercial director, said airlines could no longer rely on decisions made by existing industry bodies on which volatile regions are secure to fly over.

Despite flying over a conflict zone, MH17's flight path had been approved by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the Ukrainian authorities and the European airspace service provider Eurocontrol, Mr Dunleavy said.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, he called for airlines and existing aviation bodies to "review existing processes and set more stringent standards".

"Ultimately, we need one body to be the arbiter of where we can fly," he said.

"This tragedy has taught us that despite following the guidelines and advice set out by the governing bodies, the skies above certain territories are simply not safe.

"No longer should airlines bear the responsibility of deeming flight paths safe or unsafe. We are businesses, not agencies.

"And it is not reasonable for us to assess all of the issues going on in all of the regions in the world, and determine a safe flight path.

"For the sake of passenger and crew safety we need to insist on a higher level of authority."

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