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Israeli bombardment escalates as Gaza death toll rises: Live news
Israeli army bombs police headquarters and security buildings in Gaza as authorities say 43 Palestinians killed, including 13 children, since escalation began.
![Palestinians look on as they inspect their residential building which was damaged in an Israeli air raid in Gaza City May 12, 2021. [Suhaib Salem/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2021-05-12T053154Z_1033173492_RC25EN911OPY_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS.jpg?resize=770%2C513)
12 May 2021
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Updated:
4 minutes ago
A night of heavy bombardment on the Gaza Strip has continued into Wednesday morning as Israeli forces launched intensive raids on various locations across the besieged coastal territory.
Local sources said Israeli fighter jets bombed sites belonging to Palestinian armed groups, in addition to security and police buildings. In Gaza City’s Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood, a man, his pregnant wife and their five-year-old boy were killed by an Israeli attack on their home.
Gaza’s ministry of health said the overall death toll since the latest offensive began stood at 43, including 13 children. Almost 300 others have been wounded.
Five Israelis have also been killed. The Israeli army said that about 1,500 rockets have been fired from Gaza towards various locations in Israel and they have added reinforcements near the enclave’s eastern lands.
Here are the latest updates:
Gaza death toll increases to 43 Palestinians killed
The Gaza health ministry said the number of Palestinians killed from Israeli air attacks is now at 43 Palestinians, including 13 children and three women.
At least 290 others have been wounded, Al Jazeera journalist Safwat al-Kahlout said.
“In the last hour, there were two Israeli air strikes,” al-Kahlout said, speaking from Gaza City.
Parts of a broken mannequin lie on the ground near a tower building which was hit by Israeli air raids in Gaza City May 12, 2021. [Mohammed Salem/Reuters]
“In a separate attack on Gaza City, there was another Israeli air strike on a car,” he continued. “Eyewitnesses said a woman and her two children were [killed] in the car.”
Hamas says Israeli air raids destroyed all Gaza police buildings
Smoke and flames rise during Israeli air raids in the Gaza Strip on May 12, 2021. [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters]
“Israeli occupation planes launched successive raids that resulted in the destruction of all police headquarters buildings in Gaza City,” Eyad al-Bozom, a ministry spokesman said Wednesday morning.
Dozens of loud explosions were heard in western Gaza.
The Israeli army said it had shelled a building during the night that housed senior members of Hamas’ military intelligence service.
The homes of key Hamas representatives were also attacked, the Israeli military said.
One Israeli soldier killed after Hamas targeted Israeli military vehicle
An Israeli soldier has been killed after a military jeep stationed on the outskirts of northern Gaza Strip was targeted by the military wing of Hamas.
Earlier, the Qassam Brigades said three Israelis were wounded.
According to Israeli media, the soldier succumbed to injuries after an anti-tank missile was fired on the jeep.
War crimes court concerned over violence in West Bank: ICC
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has expressed concern about escalating violence in the occupied West Bank and the possibility that war crimes are being committed there, its prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said.
“I note with great concern the escalation of violence in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as in and around Gaza, and the possible commission of crimes under the Rome Statute,” Bensouda wrote on Twitter.
🚨 #ICC Prosecutor #FatouBensouda on the recent escalation of violence in #Gaza, the #WestBank, including #EastJerusalem ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/jZlns3d92I
— Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) May 12, 2021
Is the Palestinian Authority being sidelined?
Black smoke billows after a series of Israeli air raids targeted Khan Younis in the southern Gaza strip, early on May 12, 2021 [Youssef Massoud/AFP]
“We’ve spoken to a PLO executive committee member who told us that the language the international community has been using is not strong enough to curb the Israeli violations,” Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim said, speaking from Ramallah.
Ibrahim said that for many Palestinians, the usual track the PA resorts to in times of escalation of appealing to the international community to condemn Israel is not enough.
“There’s a growing feeling among Palestinians that Israel only understands the language of force, which is why we’ve seen in the protests in the occupied West Bank in the past few days people calling on Gaza [armed groups] to respond,” she said.
Hamas leader says group ‘ready’ for Israeli escalation
Hamas head Ismail Haniya said he had told mediators the problem is not with Gaza but with Israel, adding that the group Hamas is “ready” if Israel increases its attacks.
“If (Israel) wants to escalate, we are ready for it, and if it wants to stop, we’re also ready,” Haniya, who currently lives outside the Strip, said in a televised address.
This happened in front of my house #GazaUnderAttack pic.twitter.com/BsUgoq0Yrx
— Farah Baker (@Farah_Gazan) May 12, 2021
Haniya went on to say that linking Jerusalem with the Gaza Strip is reflective of equating “resistance with identity” and hailed the protests that have broken out among Palestinians within Israel and the occupied territories.
“We are all moving together in a coherent manner in order to confront the occupation,” he said.
Haniya renewed the call for all “our Palestinian people to unite the ranks” and called on the Palestinian Authority to “stop security cooperation” with Israel.
Two Palestinians killed in occupied West Bank
A Palestinian teenager has been shot dead by Israeli forces during a raid on Aqaba village, east of the occupied West Bank town of Tubas.
Rashid Abu Ara, 16, was killed after Israeli forces raided the village to arrest another Palestinian, Sheikh Mustafa Abu Ara.
Medical sources also said that Hussein al-Titi, 26, was shot dead during protests against the Israeli army in al-Fawwar refugee camp, south of Hebron.
استشهاد الشاب حسين عطية الطيطي 26 عاماً من مخيم الفوار جنوب الخليل، خلال مواجهات مع الاحتلال شهدها المخيم قبل قليل. pic.twitter.com/qZctxWAA1G
— shatha hammad | شذى حماد (@shathahammad4) May 12, 2021
Translation: Hussein Atiya al-Titi, 26 years old, was killed in Fuwwar refugee camp south of Hebron during confrontations with Israeli forces.
For updates from Tuesday, May 11, please click here.
Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies
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