Over 70 dead in worst bombardments between Israel and Hamas for years

Rebecca Falconer
·3 min read

At least 67 Palestinians and seven Israelis have been killed in fighting between Israel's military and Hamas since Monday, per Reuters.

The big picture: The worst aerial exchanges of fire between Israel and Hamas since 2014 continued into early Thursday. It comes days after escalating violence in Jerusalem that injured hundreds of Palestinians and several Israeli police officers during protests over the planned evictions of Palestinian families from their homes.

Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free

An Israeli man in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva on May 13 checks the damage from a rocket launched from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Photo: Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images

Smoke and flames rise after Israeli fighter jets conducted airstrikes in Gaza on May 13. Photo: Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Israeli firefighters and security forces inspect damage at a house in Yehud, near Tel Aviv, after rockets were launched toward Israel from Gaza Strip on May 12. Photo: Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images

A fire rages at sunrise in Khan Yunish following an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza on May 12. Photo: Youssef Massoud/AFP via Getty Images

Smoke billows on May 12 at Ashkelon's refinery, hit by Hamas rockets the previous day in southern Israel, near the Gaza Strip. Photo: Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

People gather at the site of a collapsed building in the aftermath of Israeli air strikes on Gaza City on May 11. Photo: Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images

Rockets are launched from Gaza toward the coastal city of Tel Aviv, Israel on May 11. Photo: Anas Baba/AFP via Getty Images

A Palestinian youth comforts an injured boy receiving medical care al-Shifa hospital after an Israeli air strike in Gaza on May 11. Photo: Mahmud HamsA/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli emergency services transport an injured man in the town of Holon near Tel Aviv, on May 11. Photo: Gideon Markowicz/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli soldiers fire tear gas at Palestinian demonstrators at the Qalandiya checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem, in the occupied West Bank, on May 11. Photo: Abbas Momani/AFP via Getty Images

A Palestinian protester burns tires in response to Israeli security forces at the Beit El checkpoint early on May 12. Photo: Issam Rimawi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Israeli forces and others take cover on the ground as rockets are launched from the Gaza Strip into the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on May 11. Photo: Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

A Palestinian man holds an injured girl awaiting medical care at al-Shifa hospital, after an Israeli air strike in Gaza city, on May 11. Nine children were among 24 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes the previous day, AP reports. Photo: Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images

A Rabbi inspects the damage inside a religious school in the central Israeli city of Lod, near Tel Aviv, on May 11 following overnight exchanges of fire. Photo: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images

Palestinian children inspect their damaged house following an Israeli airstrike at Al-Shati Refugee Camp in Gaza City on May 11. Photo: Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images

Israel's Iron Dome aerial defense system intercepts rockets above the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, after they were launched from the Gaza Strip on May 10. Photo: Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli forces fire tear gas towards Palestinians throwing stones during a protest in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, on May 10. Photo: Hazem Bade/AFP via Getty Images

Palestinian medics evacuating a wounded person during protests in Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound on May 10. Photo: Ahmad Ghabarli/AFP via Getty Images

Palestinians respond to Israeli forces during a protest against attacks by Israeli police on Palestinians at Masjid al-Aqsa, in Nablus, West Bank early on May 11. Photo: Mamoun Wazwaz/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Israeli forces during a Palestinian protest at Masjid al-Aqsa, in Nablus, West Bank, early on May 11. Photo: Mamoun Wazwaz/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect the latest exchanges and more photos.

Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.

Recommended Stories

  • Gaza violence: Pictures show scale of destruction amid threat of Israeli invasion

    Unrest in recent days has seen rockets fired from Gaza while Israeli forces have bombarded the territory with air strikes.

  • Jewish group condemns 'pure antisemitism' in German protests

    Several other German cities including Berlin, Hamburg and Hannover have seen anti-Israeli protests over the past few days. At least two synagogues were attacked, and several Israeli flags were torn down and burned since the latest eruption of violence in Israel and the Gaza Strip.

  • Rockets hit Israel as airstrikes pound Gaza Strip

    Israel has killed a string of senior Hamas military figures and pounded three multistory towers as it hammers the Gaza Strip with airstrikes. Meanwhile, militants in the territory fired barrages of rockets Wednesday. (May 12)

  • Streets of Tel Aviv empty as death toll grows from conflict in Israel

    At least 59 people have been killed in the violence on both sides as it now spreads to mixed Arab-Jewish towns inside Israel.

  • ‘Baghdad Central’ Actress Maisa Abd Elhadi Reportedly Shot By Israeli Soldiers During Protest

    Maisa Abd Elhadi, the Palestinian actress whose credits include the Channel 4 series Baghdad Central and Netflix original The Angel, reportedly is recovering after being shot by Israeli police during a protest in Haifa. The region is experiencing its worst violence since the 2014 Gaza war. This week, at least 35 Palestinians including 12 children […]

  • Mosques disappear as China strives to 'build a beautiful Xinjiang'

    The Jiaman mosque in the city of Qira, in the far western Chinese region of Xinjiang, is hidden behind high walls and Communist Party propaganda signs, leaving passersby with no indication that it is home to a religious site. In late April, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, two ethnic Uyghur women sat behind a tiny mesh grate, underneath a surveillance camera, inside the compound of what had long been the city's largest place of worship. Within minutes of reporters arriving, four men in plain clothes showed up and took up positions around the site, locking gates to nearby residential buildings.

  • Israeli Ambassador Accuses Tlaib of Encouraging Terror Groups to Attack Jews

    Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. accused Representative Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) of “stoking tensions” with her recent comments about the conflict between Israel and Palestinians and suggested her words “encourage terror groups such as Hamas” to “carry out attacks against Jews.” “Congresswoman @RashidaTlaib maybe you should open your eyes to the whole picture? Islam’s 3rd holiest site is being used to stockpile Molotov cocktails and rocks that are being lobbed at the police and at Jewish worshippers praying at the Western Wall, below the Temple Mount,” ambassador Gilad Erdan wrote in a tweet on Monday. Congresswoman @RashidaTlaib maybe you should open your eyes to the whole picture? Islam’s 3rd holiest site is being used to stockpile Molotov cocktails and rocks that are being lobbed at the police and at Jewish worshippers praying at the Western Wall, below the Temple Mount. 1/4 https://t.co/gsdiXL6BSY pic.twitter.com/5OtcBKgUle — Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) May 10, 2021 “Congresswoman, instead of calling for peace and calm, your tweets are the stoking tensions,” Erdan added in another post. “Maybe you don’t realize that your words encourage terror groups such as Hamas to fire rockets into civilian populations and carry out attacks against Jews.” Congresswoman, instead of calling for peace and calm, your tweets are the stoking tensions. Maybe you don't realize that your words encourage terror groups such as Hamas to fire rockets into civilian populations and carry out attacks against Jews. 4/4 — Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) May 10, 2021 Erdan was responding to Tlaib’s earlier tweets in which she criticized the Jewish state over violent encounters between Israeli police and Palestinians last week at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, a holy site in Jerusalem that is sacred to both Muslims and Jews. “I was 7 years old when I first prayed at the Al Aqsa with my sity. It’s a sacred site for Muslims. This is equivalent to attacking the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians, or the Temple Mount for Jews. Israel attacks it during Ramadan. Where’s the outrage @POTUS?” wrote Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American woman elected to Congress. I was 7 years old when I first prayed at the Al Aqsa with my sity. It's a sacred site for Muslims. This is equivalent to attacking the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians, or the Temple Mount for Jews. Israel attacks it during Ramadan. Where's the outrage @POTUS? https://t.co/Q4gGBrCOof — Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) May 10, 2021 “American taxpayer money is being used to commit human rights violations. Congress must condition the aid we send to Israel, and end it altogether if those conditions are not followed. Statements aren’t working @SecBlinken. Enough is enough,” she wrote in another tweet directed at U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. American taxpayer money is being used to commit human rights violations. Congress must condition the aid we send to Israel, and end it altogether if those conditions are not followed. Statements aren't working @SecBlinken. Enough is enough. — Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) May 10, 2021 On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces declared that the country “is under attack” and called on 5,000 reserve soldiers to aid its defense against rockets from Gaza. One day earlier, 26 Palestinians, including nine children, were killed in Gaza, mostly by Israeli airstrikes, according to Gaza health officials. The IDF said at least 16 of those killed were militants. During that time, Gaza militants fired hundreds of rockets at Israel, killing two Israeli civilians and wounding ten others. Every red dot marks sirens in Israel over the last 30 minutes: Israel is under attack. pic.twitter.com/1CSOFn8NBi — Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 11, 2021 White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that the Biden administration has “serious concerns” regarding the situation. A readout from a call between national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Israel national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat noted that Sullivan had “highlighted recent engagements by senior U.S. officials with senior Israeli and Palestinian officials and key regional stakeholders to press for steps to ensure calm, deescalate tensions, and denounce violence.” “Mr. Sullivan also reiterated the United States’ serious concerns about the potential evictions of Palestinian families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood,” the readout added. “They agreed that the launching of rocket attacks and incendiary balloons from Gaza towards Israel is unacceptable and must be condemned.”

  • Deadly violence across Israel-Gaza border

    Israeli airstrikes in Gaza and Palestinian rocket fire toward Israel continued on Thursday as fighting between Jews and Arabs rages in Israeli cities. (May 13)

  • Israeli president warns of civil war as Jews, Arabs clash over Gaza

    Israel's president warned of a civil war between the country's Arabs and Jews on Wednesday as fury and fear over shelling exchanges with Palestinian militants in Gaza ignited violence in Israel's streets. Appeals by religious and political leaders for calm, and police reinforcements and mass-arrests, appeared to do little to stem riots in several ethnically mixed towns. The strife was touched off by sometimes violent pro-Palestinian protests by members of the Arab minority incensed at an Israeli air barrage launched on Gaza on Monday after Islamist Hamas-led militants fired salvoes of rockets across the border.

  • Turkey calls on Muslims to take clear stance over Gaza

    Muslim countries must show a united and clear stance over Israel's conflict with the Islamist Hamas movement in Gaza, Turkey's vice president, Fuat Oktay, said on Thursday, criticising world powers for condemning violence without acting. "What we desire is that active measures are taken," Oktay told reporters after morning prayers marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. In several days of conflict, Hamas has fired volleys of rockets towards Israeli cities and Israel has launched air strikes against the Islamist faction in the Gaza Strip.

  • Tufted Is Trending

    It's happy, it's fuzzy, it's colorful—and we're totally here for it Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • US throws its support behind Israel as progressives in Democratic Party push Joe Biden to respond

    The US appeared to throw its support behind ally Israel on Wednesday, with its most senior diplomat emphasising Israel’s right to defend itself as violence escalated. Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said there was a "clear distinction" between Hamas rocket launches against Israel and Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, as Washington firmly backed the Jewish state in the escalating conflict. "[There is] a very clear and absolute distinction between a terrorist organisation, Hamas, that is indiscriminately raining down rockets - in fact, targeting civilians - and Israel's response defending itself," said Mr Blinken. President Joe Biden has not yet issued a statement on the conflict nor spoken to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at least as far as has been made public.

  • Steelers schedule: Pittsburgh opening on road for seventh straight season

    The Pittsburgh Steelers will open the 2021 season with a road trip to face the Buffalo Bills. Starting the season away from Heinz Field is something the Steelers have gotten used to in recent years. The Buffalo trip will make the seventh straight year the Steelers will begin their season on the road. “It would [more]

  • A Palestinian journalist who was reporting live from the West Bank says Twitter asked her to delete her tweets

    Mariam Barghouti's Twitter account was also temporarily restricted, which the company said was an accident.

  • ‘Wonder Woman’ Star Gal Gadot Gets Backlash for Statement on Israel-Palestine Violence

    “Wonder Woman” star Gal Gadot, who was born in Israel and served a mandatory two years as a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, released a statement on the recent violence between Israel and Palestine that drew backlash from fans. “My heart breaks. My country is at war,” Gadot posted in a statement on Twitter […]

  • Israel, Hamas escalate deadly confrontations

    Tensions escalated in Jerusalem on Tuesday after Israel unleashed airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, while the militant group Hamas launched hundreds of rockets at the holy city.

  • Should children be required to get the COVID vaccine?

    The Pfizer vaccine is set to be injected as soon as Thursday into adolescents. The question now is how many of them and their parents are going to be willing to take it.

  • Israeli airstrikes target Hamas as Gaza rockets reach Tel Aviv, civilians dying on both sides

    Confrontation between Israel and Hamas sparked by weeks of tensions at a mosque in Jerusalem escalated into Wednesday with Hamas launching over 100 rockets into Israel in response to Israeli airstrikes. Senior foreign correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reports on the death toll felt on both sides

  • Mexico scraps tainted GM union vote, U.S. lawmakers warn of labor abuses

    MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican authorities on Tuesday ordered the General Motors Co union in the city of Silao to repeat a worker vote following pressure from U.S. lawmakers for the automaker to address alleged abuses that could potentially violate a new trade deal. Mexico's labor ministry said it found "serious irregularities" in last month's vote, which is required under a Mexican labor reform to ensure workers are not bound to contracts that are signed behind their backs and keep wages low. Such votes are part of Mexico's broader effort to uphold worker rights as part of a new free trade pact that replaces NAFTA.

  • Ruling paves way for longer sentence in George Floyd's death

    A Minnesota judge has ruled that there were aggravating factors in the death of George Floyd, paving the way for the possibility of a longer sentence for Derek Chauvin, according to an order made public Wednesday. In his ruling dated Tuesday, Judge Peter Cahill found Chauvin abused his authority as a police officer when he restrained Floyd last year and that he treated Floyd with particular cruelty. Cahill said Chauvin and two other officers held Floyd handcuffed, in a prone position on the street for an “inordinate amount of time” and that Chauvin knew the restraint was dangerous.