Israel pounds Gaza neighborhoods, as residents scramble for safety

Residents of the Gaza Strip scrambled to find safety Wednesday, as Israeli warplanes hammered neighborhood after neighborhood in the tiny coastal enclave, retaliating for the deadly weekend attack by Hamas militants.
As Gazans crowded into U.N. schools and a shrinking number of safe neighborhoods, humanitarian groups pleaded for the creation of corridors to get aid into Gaza, warning that hospitals overwhelmed with wounded people were running out of supplies.
Israel has stopped entry of food, fuel and medicine into Gaza, and the sole remaining access from Egypt shut down Tuesday after airstrikes hit near the border crossing. The war, which has claimed at least 2,100 lives on both sides, is expected to escalate.
Israel appears determined to crush Hamas’ hold on Gaza, following an unprecedented attack in which militants gunned down civilians in their homes, on streets and at a mass outdoor music festival, while dragging men, women and children into captivity.
Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza hold about 150 soldiers and civilians hostage, according to Israel.