Rockets are launched from Gaza Strip to Israel, Friday, May 14, 2021. (AP Photo)Gaza Attack Live Updates: Amid constant rocket attacks on Israeli towns, Israeli forces fired artillery and launched airstrikes targeting a network of Palestinian militant tunnels under Gaza that it dubbed “the Metro”, Reuters reported.
An Israeli military spokesman said that while ground forces had taken part in the 40-minute, pre-dawn offensive, none had crossed into the Gaza Strip. A woman and her three children were killed in the operation, according to officials.
Amid heightened tensions in the Gaza Strip, clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants intensified on Friday with both sides launching air strikes at each other. Clashes between Arab and Jewish mobs on the streets have also prompted Israeli leaders to warn of a possible civil war.
Even as cross-border fighting enters its fifth day, there appears to be no end in sight. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the campaign “will take more time”, Reuters reported. He described the mayhem playing out in Israeli cities as “anarchy” and appealed for an end to “lynchings.”
Meanwhile, Israel’s Defence Minister on Thursday approved the mobilisation of 9,000 more reservist troops amid fighting with Hamas and Israel’s military spokesman says forces are massing on the border with the Gaza Strip. The Defense Ministry said that the latest mobilisation, approved by Defense Minister Benny Gantz, was an exceptional call-up. It comes after days of heavy fighting in which Hamas has fired hundreds of rockets deep into Israel The military has responded with punishing airstrikes.
In the last four days alone, 119 people were killed in airstrikes, according to the latest government data obtained by Al Jazeera.
Palestinians grabbed their children and belongings and fled neighborhoods on the outskirts of Gaza City on Friday as Israel unleashed a heavy barrage of artillery fire and airstrikes killing a family of 6 in their home. Israel said it was clearing a network of militant tunnels ahead of a possible ground invasion.
Israel has massed troops along the border and called up 9000 reservists as fighting intensifies with the Islamic militant group Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip. Palestinian militants have fired some 1800 rockets and the Israeli military has launched more than 600 airstrikes toppling at least three high-rise apartment buildings and has shelled some areas with tanks stationed near the frontier. (AP)
Thousands of Muslims led by activists from an Islamic political party demonstrated in Bangladesh's capital on Friday to denounce attacks by Israel against Palestinians.
After the end of Eid a-Fitr prayers at Dhaka's main Baitul Mokarram Mosque, activists from the Islamic Andolan Bangladesh, or Islamic Movement Bangladesh, began protesting and were joined by thousands of others.
Muslim-majority Bangladesh celebrated the key festival of Eid a-Fitr in a subdued manner after the government urged people to avoid large gatherings. Authorities arranged prayers in phases at the Baitul Mokarram Mosque, where devotees maintained distancing to avoid spreading the coronavirus. Afterward, protesters crowded together outside, carrying signs reading "Boycott terrorist state Israel" and chanting "Down with Israel." (AP)
Israel fired artillery and mounted extensive air strikes on Friday against a network of Palestinian militant tunnels under Gaza that it dubbed "the Metro", amid persistent rocket attacks on Israeli towns.
An Israeli military spokesman said that while ground forces had taken part in the 40-minute, pre-dawn offensive, none had crossed into the Gaza Strip, as hostilities entered their fifth day with no sign of abating.Health officials in northern Gaza said a woman and her three children were killed during the Israeli operation and that their bodies were recovered from the rubble of their home.
Rocket barrages against southern Israel swiftly followed the Israeli strikes, which the spokesman said included artillery and tank fire from inside Israeli territory. (Reuters)
In a tweet shared in Arabic and Hebrew, French President Emmanuel Macron called for an immediate ceasefire between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants. "The spiral of violence in the Middle East must stop. I strongly call for a ceasefire and for dialogue. I call for calm and peace," his tweet read.
Israeli artillery pounded northern Gaza early Friday in an attempt to destroy a vast network of militant tunnels inside the territory, the military said, bringing the front lines closer to dense civilian areas and paving the way for a potential ground invasion.
Israel has massed troops along the border and called up 9,000 reservists following days of fighting with the Islamic militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza. Palestinians militants have fired some 1,800 rockets and the military has launched more than 600 airstrikes, toppling at least three apartment blocks. The stepped-up fighting came as communal violence in Israel erupted for a fourth night, with Jewish and Arab mobs clashing in the flashpoint town of Lod.
The fighting took place despite a bolstered police presence ordered by the nation's leaders. Masses of red flames illuminated the skies as the deafening blasts from the outskirts of Gaza City jolted people awake. (AP)
The Palestinian Health Ministry said, as of Friday morning, 119 Palestinians have died and 830 have been injured since the conflict erupted last week.
Health officials in northern Gaza said a woman and her three children were killed during the Israeli airstrikes overnight, that targeted a network of Palestinian militant tunnels. Their bodies were recovered from the rubble of their home.
Nine Israelis have been killed, according to Israeli media. The most recent were the deaths of two women — one elderly — while running to air-raid shelters. (DW)
Clashes broke out early Friday between Palestinians and Israeli forces in several parts of the West Bank where a protest had been taking place, the Maan news agency reported.
Earlier, the agency said on Facebook that similar clashes were underway at a refugee camp in Hebron and in the northern city of Jenin. The WAFA news agency said 10 Palestinians were injured by live fire from Israeli soldiers near the separation barrier in northeast Jenin. (DW)
US President Joe Biden said that while he was working towarding restoring calm in the Middle East, US officials believed that the conflict was bound to continue for some more days.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, but U.S. officials said Abbas seems either unable or unwilling to rein in Hamas-led rocket attacks on Israeli targets. As a consequence, the Biden administration has reached out to a number of regional Arab states to get them to exert influence on Hamas -- labeled a terrorist organization by Washington -- to stop the violence. (With Reuters inputs)
Israel fired artillery and mounted more air strikes on Friday against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip amid constant rocket fire deep into Israel's commercial centre.
As hostilities entered their fifth day, with no sign of abating, the Israeli military said in a statement shortly after midnight that air and ground forces were attacking the Hamas-run enclave.
Rocket barrages from Gaza swiftly followed. Although the statement gave no further details, Israeli military affairs correspondents who are briefed regularly by the armed forces said it was not a ground invasion, and that troops were firing artillery from Israel's side of the border.
Residents of northern Gaza, near the Israeli frontier, said they had seen no sign of Israeli ground forces inside the enclave but reported heavy artillery fire and dozens of air strikes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday the campaign "will take more time". (Reuters)
The U.N. Security Council will publicly discuss the worsening violence between Israel and Palestinian militants on Sunday, diplomats said, reaching a compromise over U.S. objections to a meeting on Friday.
Diplomats said the United States, a close ally of Israel, had initially suggested a virtual public meeting could be held on Tuesday.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday he hoped waiting a few days would allow for “diplomacy to have some effect and to see if indeed we get a real de-escalation,” adding that Washington was “open to and supportive of a discussion, an open discussion, at the United Nations."Hostilities entered their fifth day on Friday, with no sign of abating.
Israel fired artillery and mounted more air strikes against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip amid constant rocket fire deep into Israel's commercial centre. (Reuters)