Despite Biden’s Call For De-Escalation, Israel’s Netanyahu ‘Determined’ To Continue Gaza Operation

(AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he is
“determined to continue this operation until its aim is met,”
despite U.S. President Joe Biden’s call for a de-escalation of
hostilities in Gaza.

In a statement from the his office Wednesday, Netanyahu said
that he “greatly appreciates the support of the American
president,” but said Israel will push ahead “to return the calm and
security to you, citizens of Israel.”

Earlier, Biden called for “significant de-escalation” by day’s
end from Netanyahu after 10 days of heavy fighting between Israel
and Hamas in Gaza.

Militants in Lebanon fired a barrage of rockets into northern
Israel on Wednesday, threatening to open up a new front in
fighting, as U.S. President Joe Biden publicly pressed Israel to
wind down an offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The rocket attack, which drew Israeli artillery fire in response
but apparently did not cause any injuries, raised the possibility
of dragging Israel into renewed conflict with the powerful Lebanese
militant group Hezbollah to its north — as it continues to battle
Hamas militants along its southern frontier.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, and
Hezbollah, which fought a monthlong war against Israel in 2006, has
stayed out of the fighting for now.

But the barrage appears to be carefully calibrated to send a
political message that the group, which has tens of thousands of
missiles, could join the battle at any time. Israel considers
Hezbollah to be its most formidable threat, and has threatened
widespread destruction in Lebanon if war were to erupt.

The rocket attack came at a time of growing international
pressure on Israel to halt its Gaza offensive, which has left over
200 people dead and caused heavy destruction.

Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “that he expected a
significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire,” the
White House said. Biden had previously avoided pressing Israel more
directly and publicly for a cease-fire. But pressure has been
ramping up on him to intervene more forcefully as other diplomatic
efforts also gather strength.

Egyptian negotiators also were working to halt the fighting, and
an Egyptian diplomat said that some of the country’s top officials
are waiting for Israel’s response to a cease-fire offer. The
diplomat spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with
regulations. Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said he
hoped to fly to Israel for talks Thursday with Israelis and
Palestinians.

But it was unclear if or how quickly those efforts would yield
results.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli military said it was widening
its strikes on militant targets in the Palestinian territory’s
south to blunt continuing rocket fire from Hamas and Netanyahu said
he was not ruling out further escalation. At least nine people were
killed in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

The current round of fighting between Israel and Hamas began May
10 when the militant group fired long-range rockets toward
Jerusalem after days of clashes between Palestinian protesters and
Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a flashpoint site
sacred to Jews and Muslims. Heavy-handed police tactics at the
compound and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian
families by Jewish settlers had inflamed tensions.

Since then, Israel has pounded Gaza with hundreds of airstrikes
it says are targeting Hamas’ militant infrastructure, and Hamas and
other militant groups embedded in residential areas have fired more
than 3,700 rockets at Israeli cities, with hundreds falling short
and most of the rest intercepted.

At least 227 Palestinians have been killed, including 64
children and 38 women, with 1,620 people wounded, according to the
Gaza Health Ministry, which does not break the numbers down into
fighters and civilians. Hamas and Islamic Jihad say at least 20 of
their fighters have been killed, while Israel says the number is at
least 130. Some 58,000 Palestinians have fled their homes.

Twelve people in Israel, including a 5-year-old boy and a
soldier, have been killed.

Wednesday’s rocket barrage was the third from Lebanon over the
past week.

The Israeli military said it identified four rockets fired from
Lebanon into northern Israel. There were no immediate reports of
injuries. One landed in an open area, two landed in the sea, and
one was intercepted by aerial defenses. Residents of the city of
Shfaram, east of Haifa, said one rocket landed near the town.

The rockets are widely believed to be fired by Palestinian
factions based in south Lebanon.

In the Gaza Strip, one of the Israeli airstrikes destroyed the
home of an extended family.

Residents surveyed the piles of bricks, concrete and other
debris that had once been the home of 40 members of al-Astal family
in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis. They said a warning
missile struck the building five minutes before the airstrike,
allowing everyone to escape.

Ahmed al-Astal, a university professor, described a scene of
panic, with men, women and children racing out of the building.
Some of the women didn’t even have time to cover their hair with
Muslim headscarves, he said.

“We had just gotten down to the street, breathless, when the
devastating bombardment came,” he said. “They left nothing but
destruction, the children’s cries filling the street. … This is
happening, and there is no one to help us. We ask God to help
us.”

The Israeli military said it struck a militant tunnel network
around the towns of Khan Younis and Rafah, with 52 aircraft hitting
40 underground targets.

Among the nine people killed Wednesday was a reporter for
Hamas-run Al-Aqsa radio and two people who died when warning
missiles crashed into their apartment.

Military officials, meanwhile, said a mysterious explosion that
killed eight members of a Palestinian family on the first day of
the fighting was caused by a misfired rocket from Gaza. “This
wasn’t an Israeli attack,” said Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a
military spokesman.

Since the fighting began, Gaza’s infrastructure, already
weakened by a 14-year blockade, has rapidly deteriorated. Medical
supplies, water and fuel for electricity are running low in the
territory, on which Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade after the
Islamic militant group Hamas seized power in 2007.

Israeli attacks have damaged at least 18 hospitals and clinics
and destroyed one health facility, the World Health Organization
said. Nearly half of all essential drugs have run out.

The Gaza Health Ministry said it had salvaged coronavirus
vaccines after shrapnel from an Israeli airstrike damaged the
territory’s only testing facility, which also administered hundreds
of vaccines. The operations were relocated to another clinic.

Dr. Majdi Dhair, head of preventive medicine at the ministry,
said the territory was already struggling to recover from a
coronavirus wave that hit in February, with more than 4,200 active
cases. At least 986 people have died from COVID-19 in Gaza, which
only has enough supplies to vaccinate some 55,000 people out of a
population of 2 million.

Among the buildings leveled by Israeli airstrikes was one
housing The Associated Press’ Gaza office and those of other media
outlets.

Netanyahu alleged that Hamas military intelligence was operating
in the building. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday
that Israel had given the U.S. information about the bombing,
without elaborating.

The AP has called for an independent investigation. The news
organization’s president, Gary Pruitt, has said the AP had no
indication Hamas was present in the building and that “this is
something we check as best we can.”

The fighting, the worst since a 2014 war between Israel and
Hamas, has ignited protests around the world and inspired
Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories to call a
general strike Tuesday. It was a rare collective action that
spanned boundaries central to decades of failed peace efforts.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967
Mideast war, territories the Palestinians want for their future
state.

(AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he is
“determined to continue this operation until its aim is met,”
despite U.S. President Joe Biden’s call for a de-escalation of
hostilities in Gaza.

In a statement from the his office Wednesday, Netanyahu said
that he “greatly appreciates the support of the American
president,” but said Israel will push ahead “to return the calm and
security to you, citizens of Israel.”

Earlier, Biden called for “significant de-escalation” by day’s
end from Netanyahu after 10 days of heavy fighting between Israel
and Hamas in Gaza.

Militants in Lebanon fired a barrage of rockets into northern
Israel on Wednesday, threatening to open up a new front in
fighting, as U.S. President Joe Biden publicly pressed Israel to
wind down an offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The rocket attack, which drew Israeli artillery fire in response
but apparently did not cause any injuries, raised the possibility
of dragging Israel into renewed conflict with the powerful Lebanese
militant group Hezbollah to its north — as it continues to battle
Hamas militants along its southern frontier.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, and
Hezbollah, which fought a monthlong war against Israel in 2006, has
stayed out of the fighting for now.

But the barrage appears to be carefully calibrated to send a
political message that the group, which has tens of thousands of
missiles, could join the battle at any time. Israel considers
Hezbollah to be its most formidable threat, and has threatened
widespread destruction in Lebanon if war were to erupt.

The rocket attack came at a time of growing international
pressure on Israel to halt its Gaza offensive, which has left over
200 people dead and caused heavy destruction.

Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “that he expected a
significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire,” the
White House said. Biden had previously avoided pressing Israel more
directly and publicly for a cease-fire. But pressure has been
ramping up on him to intervene more forcefully as other diplomatic
efforts also gather strength.

Egyptian negotiators also were working to halt the fighting, and
an Egyptian diplomat said that some of the country’s top officials
are waiting for Israel’s response to a cease-fire offer. The
diplomat spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with
regulations. Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said he
hoped to fly to Israel for talks Thursday with Israelis and
Palestinians.

But it was unclear if or how quickly those efforts would yield
results.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli military said it was widening
its strikes on militant targets in the Palestinian territory’s
south to blunt continuing rocket fire from Hamas and Netanyahu said
he was not ruling out further escalation. At least nine people were
killed in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

The current round of fighting between Israel and Hamas began May
10 when the militant group fired long-range rockets toward
Jerusalem after days of clashes between Palestinian protesters and
Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a flashpoint site
sacred to Jews and Muslims. Heavy-handed police tactics at the
compound and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian
families by Jewish settlers had inflamed tensions.

Since then, Israel has pounded Gaza with hundreds of airstrikes
it says are targeting Hamas’ militant infrastructure, and Hamas and
other militant groups embedded in residential areas have fired more
than 3,700 rockets at Israeli cities, with hundreds falling short
and most of the rest intercepted.

At least 227 Palestinians have been killed, including 64
children and 38 women, with 1,620 people wounded, according to the
Gaza Health Ministry, which does not break the numbers down into
fighters and civilians. Hamas and Islamic Jihad say at least 20 of
their fighters have been killed, while Israel says the number is at
least 130. Some 58,000 Palestinians have fled their homes.

Twelve people in Israel, including a 5-year-old boy and a
soldier, have been killed.

Wednesday’s rocket barrage was the third from Lebanon over the
past week.

The Israeli military said it identified four rockets fired from
Lebanon into northern Israel. There were no immediate reports of
injuries. One landed in an open area, two landed in the sea, and
one was intercepted by aerial defenses. Residents of the city of
Shfaram, east of Haifa, said one rocket landed near the town.

The rockets are widely believed to be fired by Palestinian
factions based in south Lebanon.

In the Gaza Strip, one of the Israeli airstrikes destroyed the
home of an extended family.

Residents surveyed the piles of bricks, concrete and other
debris that had once been the home of 40 members of al-Astal family
in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis. They said a warning
missile struck the building five minutes before the airstrike,
allowing everyone to escape.

Ahmed al-Astal, a university professor, described a scene of
panic, with men, women and children racing out of the building.
Some of the women didn’t even have time to cover their hair with
Muslim headscarves, he said.

“We had just gotten down to the street, breathless, when the
devastating bombardment came,” he said. “They left nothing but
destruction, the children’s cries filling the street. … This is
happening, and there is no one to help us. We ask God to help
us.”

The Israeli military said it struck a militant tunnel network
around the towns of Khan Younis and Rafah, with 52 aircraft hitting
40 underground targets.

Among the nine people killed Wednesday was a reporter for
Hamas-run Al-Aqsa radio and two people who died when warning
missiles crashed into their apartment.

Military officials, meanwhile, said a mysterious explosion that
killed eight members of a Palestinian family on the first day of
the fighting was caused by a misfired rocket from Gaza. “This
wasn’t an Israeli attack,” said Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a
military spokesman.

Since the fighting began, Gaza’s infrastructure, already
weakened by a 14-year blockade, has rapidly deteriorated. Medical
supplies, water and fuel for electricity are running low in the
territory, on which Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade after the
Islamic militant group Hamas seized power in 2007.

Israeli attacks have damaged at least 18 hospitals and clinics
and destroyed one health facility, the World Health Organization
said. Nearly half of all essential drugs have run out.

The Gaza Health Ministry said it had salvaged coronavirus
vaccines after shrapnel from an Israeli airstrike damaged the
territory’s only testing facility, which also administered hundreds
of vaccines. The operations were relocated to another clinic.

Dr. Majdi Dhair, head of preventive medicine at the ministry,
said the territory was already struggling to recover from a
coronavirus wave that hit in February, with more than 4,200 active
cases. At least 986 people have died from COVID-19 in Gaza, which
only has enough supplies to vaccinate some 55,000 people out of a
population of 2 million.

Among the buildings leveled by Israeli airstrikes was one
housing The Associated Press’ Gaza office and those of other media
outlets.

Netanyahu alleged that Hamas military intelligence was operating
in the building. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday
that Israel had given the U.S. information about the bombing,
without elaborating.

The AP has called for an independent investigation. The news
organization’s president, Gary Pruitt, has said the AP had no
indication Hamas was present in the building and that “this is
something we check as best we can.”

The fighting, the worst since a 2014 war between Israel and
Hamas, has ignited protests around the world and inspired
Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories to call a
general strike Tuesday. It was a rare collective action that
spanned boundaries central to decades of failed peace efforts.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967
Mideast war, territories the Palestinians want for their future
state.