Israeli border police swing their batons at Muslim worshippers to prevent them from gathering for Friday prayers at the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, Friday, May 14, 2021. (AP Photo)Gaza Attack Live Updates: As the conflict between Israel and the Hamas continues to escalate, Palestine witnessed some of its most widespread protests in years. Hundreds of young demonstrators clashed with Israeli troops, leading to the death of at least 11 people so far, AP reported.
At least seven Palestinians were killed on Friday after Israel launched an airstrike on a house in Gaza City. The West Bank violence comes as Israel unleashed a heavy barrage of tank fire and airstrikes on the Gaza Strip on Friday. Israel said it was clearing a network of militant tunnels ahead of a possible ground invasion. The West Bank violence signals a new wave of unrest there as part of the Israel-Gaza escalation.
Meanwhile, 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.
Thousands of Palestinians grabbed children and belongings and fled their homes Friday as Israel barraged the northern Gaza Strip with tank fire and airstrikes, killing a family of six in their house and heavily damaging other neighbourhoods in what it said was an operation to clear militant tunnels.
As international efforts at a cease-fire stepped up, Israel appeared to be looking to inflict intensified damage on the Islamic militant group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel.
The Gaza violence increasingly spilled over into turmoil elsewhere. Across the West Bank, Palestinians held their most widespread protests since 2017, with hundreds in at least nine towns burning tires and throwing stones at Israeli troops. Soldiers opening fire killed six, according to Palestinian health officials, while a seventh Palestinian was killed as he tried to stab an Israeli soldier. (AP)
Early Friday, just after midnight, the Israeli military put out an ominous statement to the media: “IDF air and ground troops are currently attacking in the Gaza Strip.”
The terse statement set off frenzied speculation that Israel had launched a ground invasion of Gaza — a much-feared scenario that would mark a bloody escalation of this week’s operation against Hamas militants. Some reporters were even told outright the incursion had begun.
Hours later, the military issued a “clarification.” There were no troops inside Gaza. But by then, several major news outlets had erroneously reported the ground offensive was under way.
While the army attempted to play down the incident as a misunderstanding, well-placed Israeli military commentators said the media had been used as part of an elaborate ruse to lure Hamas militants into a deadly trap that may have killed dozens of fighters.
“They didn’t lie,” said Or Heller, a veteran military correspondent on Israel’s Channel 13 TV. “It was a manipulation. It was smart and it was successful.” (AP)
Turmoil from the battle between Israel and Hamas spilled over into the West Bank, sparking the most widespread Palestinian protests in years as hundreds of young demonstrators in multiple towns clashed with Israeli troops, who shot and killed at least 11 people.
Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip continued into early Saturday, when an airstrike on a house in Gaza City killed at least seven Palestinians -- the highest number of fatalities in a single hit. That strike came a day after a furious overnight barrage of tank fire and airstrikes that wreaked destruction in some towns, killed a family of six in their house and sent thousands fleeing their homes.
The Israeli military said the operation involved 160 warplanes dropping some 80 tons of explosives over the course of 40 minutes and succeeded in destroying a network of tunnels used by Hamas to elude airstrikes and surveillance. (AP)
Morocco's King Mohammed VI on Friday ordered 40 tonnes of aid for Palestinians to be shipped to the West Bank and Gaza following recent violence.
The aid includes food, medicine and blankets and will be carried by military aircrafts, the foreign ministry said in a statement.Morocco also denounced "the violent acts perpetrated in occupied Palestinian territories," and reiterated support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Morocco resumed ties with Israel in December as part of a deal brokered by the United States that also includes Washington’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. (Reuters)
The number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank has risen to seven. The Israeli army says one was killed after attempting to stab a soldier. Palestinian health officials confirmed that death and said six other Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire in the occupied West Bank. (AP)
Hundreds of Muslims in Turkey have rallied urging Palestinians to continue resistance against Israel. They shouted support for militant Hamas leaders on Friday at a symbolic funeral prayer for Palestinians killed in the spate of violence this week between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
About 300 Muslims at the event hollered slogans in Turkish including Greetings to Hamas continue resistance. They called on Turkish soldiers to go to Gaza to help fight Israel and sang of the domed mosque in contested Jerusalem AlAqsa will be saved if blood flows in streams.
Some also waved Palestinian flags and chanted slogans in Arabic. People in Turkey have been demonstrating against Israel this week gathering without much interference from the police despite a strict lockdown to curb COVID-19 infections. (AP)
Israel's army says a soldier has shot and killed a Palestinian who tried to ram his car into a military post in the occupied West Bank, then got out and attempted to stab the soldier. The incident took place on Friday north of the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian health ministry confirmed the death but no other details were immediately available. Rights groups have complained about past shootings of Palestinians by the Israeli military under questionable circumstances. (AP)
Civil unrest between Jews and Arabs in Israel dealt a strong blow to efforts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opponents to unseat the Israeli leader after a series of inconclusive elections.
Naftali Bennett, head of the ultranationalist Yamina party, said he was abandoning efforts to form a coalition with centre and left-wing parties to form a new government. The post-election landscape remains largely the same: Netanyahu was given a chance to form a government, and failed. Now the main anti-Netanyahu bloc led by Yair Lapid's centrist Yesh Atid - 'There is a Future' - party also has no obvious route to putting together a majority in the 120-member Knesset.
Bennett, a rightist who was always an unlikely bedfellow with the more moderate Lapid, said he was abandoning those coalition talks in favour of putting together a wider unity government in the nation's interests at a time of crisis. It leaves open the very real possibility of another election - an unprecedented fifth in just over two years. (Reuters)
Lufthansa has extended its suspension of flights to Tel Aviv until May 17, the German carrier said on Friday, as Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalates. Lufthansa had said on Thursday it was suspending all flights to Tel Aviv through May 14. (Reuters)
The escalation of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is dismaying American Muslims and Jews who've been working to build bridges between their communities and are now struggling to quell fear and anger in their own circles.
"We're heartbroken," said Muslim attorney Atiya Aftab, the New Jersey-based co-founder of a major interfaith group the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom. She added that the situation threatens to derail the groups work.
The organization, which seeks to build trust and friendships between Muslim and Jewish women and teenage girls, issued a statement regretting the violent response by Hamas the Islamic militant group ruling Gaza but was more expansive and forceful in condemning actions by Israeli security forces.
The Israeli government has a responsibility to stop settlers and extremists from taking over the land and allow those who live in East Jerusalem to rightfully live there in peace, the group said. "As Muslim and Jewish women of faith, we have a responsibility to rise up and respond to injustice and prejudice."
The grim events in Israel and Gaza have fueled raw discussions among members of another Muslim-Jewish partnership Los Angeles-based New Ground, according to its executive director Aziza Hasan. (AP)
Israeli Justice Minister Benny Gantz has called on the chief's of big social media platforms to quickly remove content from their sites that incites violence or spreads disinformation.
A spokesman for Gantz said he told executives of Facebook and Tik Tok during a Zoom meeting Thursday that the current round of violence is being intentionally stirred through social media by extremist elements sworn to damage Israel. Gantz called the current round of fighting a moment of social emergency and we expect your assistance.
The spokesman said the executives expressed their commitment to act quickly and effectively to prevent incitement on their networks. (AP)
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)