[AP] The Israeli military has unleashed a wave of heavy air
strikes on the Gaza Strip, saying it destroyed 15 kilometres of
militant tunnels and the homes of nine Hamas commanders as
international diplomats worked to end the week-long war that has
killed hundreds of people.
![image](/2020/10/lawreport.jpg")
![image](/2021/05/lawpbanner.jpg")
Israel also fired artillery into Lebanese territory on Monday, a
Lebanese security source said.
![image](/2021/01/payne-alex.jpg")
The government of Israel has said it intends to press on for now
with its attacks against Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza,
while the United States signalled it would not pressure the two
sides for a ceasefire.
The latest attacks on Monday, local time, destroyed the
five-storey building housing the Hamas-run Religious Affairs
Ministry and killed a top Gaza leader of Islamic Jihad, another
militant group whom the Israeli military blamed for some of the
thousands of rocket attacks launched at Israel in recent days.
At least 200 Palestinians have been killed in the week of air
strikes, including 59 children and 35 women, with some 1300 people
wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Ten people in
Israel, including a 5-year-old boy and a soldier, have been killed
in the ongoing rocket attacks launched from civilian areas in Gaza
toward civilian areas in Israel.
The Israeli military had said six shells were initially fired
from Lebanon towards Israel but fell short of crossing the border
and that its forces would retaliate with artillery shelling towards
Lebanon.
Violence has also erupted between Jews and Arabs inside Israel,
leaving scores of people injured. On Monday, an Israeli man
attacked last week by a group of Arab citizens in the central city
of Lod died of his wounds, according to police.
The new air strikes, which hit Gaza overnight on Monday and
again in the evening, hollowed out one floor of a multi-storey
concrete building and have killed five people. A woman picked
through clothing, rubble and splintered furniture in a room that
had been destroyed. One strike demolished the wall of one room,
leaving untouched an open cabinet filled with bedding inside.
Children walked over debris in the road.
A car in the street that witnesses said was hit by an airstrike
was bent and torn, its roof ripped back and what was left of the
driver’s side door smeared with blood. A beachside cafe the car had
just left was splintered and on fire. Rescue workers tried to put
out the blaze with a small fire extinguisher.
Gaza City’s mayor, Yahya Sarraj, said that the strikes had
caused extensive damage to roads and other infrastructure. He said
water supplies to hundreds of households in the city were
disrupted. “We are trying hard to provide water, but the situation
remains difficult,” he said.
The UN has warned that the territory’s sole power station is at
risk of running out of fuel. Gaza already experiences daily power
outages for between eight and 12 hours, and tap water is
undrinkable. Mohammed Thabet, a spokesman for the territory’s
electricity distribution company, said it has fuel to supply Gaza
with electricity for two or three days.
The war broke out on May 10, when Hamas fired long-range rockets
at Jerusalem after weeks of clashes in the holy city between
Palestinian protesters and Israeli police. The protests were
focused on the heavy-handed policing of a flashpoint sacred site
during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the threatened eviction
of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers.
More protests were expected across the region on Tuesday in
response to a call by Palestinian citizens of Israel for a general
strike. The protest has the support of Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party.
Since the fighting began, the Israeli military has launched
hundreds of air strikes it says are targeting Hamas’ militant
infrastructure. Palestinian militants in Gaza have fired more than
3200 rockets into Israel. Israeli military officials said Hamas had
stockpiled about 15,000 rockets before the war started. Rocket
attacks continued on Monday, with one hitting a building in the
city of Ashdod that caused injuries, the Israeli police said.
US diplomat Hady Amr met with a delegation from the Palestinian
Authority on Monday, a day after meeting senior Israeli leaders.
But the Biden administration has declined so far to publicly
criticise Israel’s part in the fighting or send a top-level envoy
to the region.
Speaking to reporters during a trip to Denmark, Secretary of
State Antony Blinken said the United States would support any
initiative to stop the fighting, but signalled the country did not
intend to put pressure on the two sides to accept a cease-fire.
“Ultimately it is up to the parties to make clear that they want
to pursue a cease-fire,” he said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who spoke on Monday with
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, emphasised her country’s
solidarity with Israel, condemned the continued rocket attacks from
Gaza, and expressed hope for a swift end to the fighting, according
to her office.
Hamas’ top leader, Ismail Haniyeh, who is based abroad, said the
group has been contacted by the United Nations, Russia, Egypt and
Qatar as part of cease-fire efforts but “will not accept a solution
that is not up to the sacrifices of the Palestinian people”.
In an interview with the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, he blamed the
war on Israel’s actions in Jerusalem and boasted that the rockets
were ”paralysing the usurping entity (Israel).”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said his government is
working to “urgently” end the violence, in his first comments since
the war broke out. Egypt, which borders Gaza and Israel, has played
a central role in the cease-fires brokered after previous rounds of
fighting.
The Israeli military, meanwhile, said it struck 35 “terror
targets” on Monday as well as the tunnels, which it says are part
of an elaborate system it refers to as the “Metro,” used by
fighters to take cover from air strikes.
The tunnels extend for hundreds of kilometres, with some more
than 20 metres deep, according to an Israeli Air Force official who
spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, in keeping with
regulations. The official said Israel was not trying to destroy all
the tunnels, just choke points and major junctions.
The military also said it struck nine houses in different parts
of northern Gaza that belonged to “high-ranking commanders” in
Hamas. Islamic Jihad said a strike killed Hasam Abu Harbid, the
militant group’s commander for the northern Gaza Strip.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad say at least 20 of their fighters have
been killed, while Israel says the number is at least 130 and has
released the names of and photos of more than two dozen militant
commanders it says were “eliminated.” The Gaza Health Ministry,
which is controlled by Hamas, does not give a breakdown of how many
of the casualties it reports were militants or civilians.
Israel’s air strikes have levelled a number of Gaza City’s
tallest buildings, which Israel alleges contained Hamas military
infrastructure. Among them was the building housing The Associated
Press Gaza office and those of other media outlets. The Israeli
military alerted staff and residents before the strike, and all
were able to evacuate safely.
Sally Buzbee, the AP’s executive editor, has called for an
independent investigation into the airstrike.
Netanyahu alleged that Hamas military intelligence was operating
inside the building and said on Sunday any evidence would be shared
through intelligence channels. Blinken said he hasn’t yet seen any
evidence supporting Israel’s claim.
[AP] The Israeli military has unleashed a wave of heavy air
strikes on the Gaza Strip, saying it destroyed 15 kilometres of
militant tunnels and the homes of nine Hamas commanders as
international diplomats worked to end the week-long war that has
killed hundreds of people.
Israel also fired artillery into Lebanese territory on Monday, a
Lebanese security source said.
The government of Israel has said it intends to press on for now
with its attacks against Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza,
while the United States signalled it would not pressure the two
sides for a ceasefire.
The latest attacks on Monday, local time, destroyed the
five-storey building housing the Hamas-run Religious Affairs
Ministry and killed a top Gaza leader of Islamic Jihad, another
militant group whom the Israeli military blamed for some of the
thousands of rocket attacks launched at Israel in recent days.
At least 200 Palestinians have been killed in the week of air
strikes, including 59 children and 35 women, with some 1300 people
wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Ten people in
Israel, including a 5-year-old boy and a soldier, have been killed
in the ongoing rocket attacks launched from civilian areas in Gaza
toward civilian areas in Israel.
The Israeli military had said six shells were initially fired
from Lebanon towards Israel but fell short of crossing the border
and that its forces would retaliate with artillery shelling towards
Lebanon.
Violence has also erupted between Jews and Arabs inside Israel,
leaving scores of people injured. On Monday, an Israeli man
attacked last week by a group of Arab citizens in the central city
of Lod died of his wounds, according to police.
The new air strikes, which hit Gaza overnight on Monday and
again in the evening, hollowed out one floor of a multi-storey
concrete building and have killed five people. A woman picked
through clothing, rubble and splintered furniture in a room that
had been destroyed. One strike demolished the wall of one room,
leaving untouched an open cabinet filled with bedding inside.
Children walked over debris in the road.
A car in the street that witnesses said was hit by an airstrike
was bent and torn, its roof ripped back and what was left of the
driver’s side door smeared with blood. A beachside cafe the car had
just left was splintered and on fire. Rescue workers tried to put
out the blaze with a small fire extinguisher.
Gaza City’s mayor, Yahya Sarraj, said that the strikes had
caused extensive damage to roads and other infrastructure. He said
water supplies to hundreds of households in the city were
disrupted. “We are trying hard to provide water, but the situation
remains difficult,” he said.
The UN has warned that the territory’s sole power station is at
risk of running out of fuel. Gaza already experiences daily power
outages for between eight and 12 hours, and tap water is
undrinkable. Mohammed Thabet, a spokesman for the territory’s
electricity distribution company, said it has fuel to supply Gaza
with electricity for two or three days.
The war broke out on May 10, when Hamas fired long-range rockets
at Jerusalem after weeks of clashes in the holy city between
Palestinian protesters and Israeli police. The protests were
focused on the heavy-handed policing of a flashpoint sacred site
during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the threatened eviction
of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers.
More protests were expected across the region on Tuesday in
response to a call by Palestinian citizens of Israel for a general
strike. The protest has the support of Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party.
Since the fighting began, the Israeli military has launched
hundreds of air strikes it says are targeting Hamas’ militant
infrastructure. Palestinian militants in Gaza have fired more than
3200 rockets into Israel. Israeli military officials said Hamas had
stockpiled about 15,000 rockets before the war started. Rocket
attacks continued on Monday, with one hitting a building in the
city of Ashdod that caused injuries, the Israeli police said.
US diplomat Hady Amr met with a delegation from the Palestinian
Authority on Monday, a day after meeting senior Israeli leaders.
But the Biden administration has declined so far to publicly
criticise Israel’s part in the fighting or send a top-level envoy
to the region.
Speaking to reporters during a trip to Denmark, Secretary of
State Antony Blinken said the United States would support any
initiative to stop the fighting, but signalled the country did not
intend to put pressure on the two sides to accept a cease-fire.
“Ultimately it is up to the parties to make clear that they want
to pursue a cease-fire,” he said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who spoke on Monday with
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, emphasised her country’s
solidarity with Israel, condemned the continued rocket attacks from
Gaza, and expressed hope for a swift end to the fighting, according
to her office.
Hamas’ top leader, Ismail Haniyeh, who is based abroad, said the
group has been contacted by the United Nations, Russia, Egypt and
Qatar as part of cease-fire efforts but “will not accept a solution
that is not up to the sacrifices of the Palestinian people”.
In an interview with the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, he blamed the
war on Israel’s actions in Jerusalem and boasted that the rockets
were ”paralysing the usurping entity (Israel).”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said his government is
working to “urgently” end the violence, in his first comments since
the war broke out. Egypt, which borders Gaza and Israel, has played
a central role in the cease-fires brokered after previous rounds of
fighting.
The Israeli military, meanwhile, said it struck 35 “terror
targets” on Monday as well as the tunnels, which it says are part
of an elaborate system it refers to as the “Metro,” used by
fighters to take cover from air strikes.
The tunnels extend for hundreds of kilometres, with some more
than 20 metres deep, according to an Israeli Air Force official who
spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, in keeping with
regulations. The official said Israel was not trying to destroy all
the tunnels, just choke points and major junctions.
The military also said it struck nine houses in different parts
of northern Gaza that belonged to “high-ranking commanders” in
Hamas. Islamic Jihad said a strike killed Hasam Abu Harbid, the
militant group’s commander for the northern Gaza Strip.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad say at least 20 of their fighters have
been killed, while Israel says the number is at least 130 and has
released the names of and photos of more than two dozen militant
commanders it says were “eliminated.” The Gaza Health Ministry,
which is controlled by Hamas, does not give a breakdown of how many
of the casualties it reports were militants or civilians.
Israel’s air strikes have levelled a number of Gaza City’s
tallest buildings, which Israel alleges contained Hamas military
infrastructure. Among them was the building housing The Associated
Press Gaza office and those of other media outlets. The Israeli
military alerted staff and residents before the strike, and all
were able to evacuate safely.
Sally Buzbee, the AP’s executive editor, has called for an
independent investigation into the airstrike.
Netanyahu alleged that Hamas military intelligence was operating
inside the building and said on Sunday any evidence would be shared
through intelligence channels. Blinken said he hasn’t yet seen any
evidence supporting Israel’s claim.