35 killed in Gaza violence
Israel launches airstrikes as UN, US focus on de-escalation
Hostilities between Israel and Hamas escalated, with at least 35 killed in Gaza and five in Israel in the most intensive aerial exchanges for years.
Israel carried out hundreds of air strikes in Gaza into yesterday morning, as the militant group and other Palestinian militants fired multiple rocket barrages at Tel Aviv and Beersheba.
One multi-storey residential building in Gaza collapsed and another was heavily damaged after they were repeatedly hit by Israeli air strikes.
Israel said its jets had targeted and killed several Hamas intelligence leaders early on Wednesday. Other strikes targeted what the military said were rocket launch sites, Hamas offices and the homes of Hamas leaders.
It was the heaviest offensive between Israel and Hamas since a 2014 war in Gaza, and prompted international concern that the situation could spiral out of control.
UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland tweeted: “Stop the fire immediately.
“We’re escalating towards a full scale war. Leaders on all sides have to take the responsibility of de-escalation.
“The cost of war in Gaza is devastating & is being paid by ordinary people. UN is working w/ all sides to restore calm. Stop the violence now,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, AFP reported that Donald Trump took a pro-Israel stance on Tuesday amid the violence, as the former US president accused successor Joe Biden of “weakness” and lack of support for the Jewish state.
“Under Biden, the world is getting more violent and more unstable because Biden’s weakness and lack of support for Israel is leading to new attacks on our allies,” Trump said in a statement.
Gazans homes shook and the sky lit up from Israeli attacks, outgoing rockets and Israeli air defence missiles intercepting them.
At least 30 explosions were heard within a matter of minutes just after dawn yesterday.
Israelis ran for shelters or flattened themselves on pavements in communities more than 70km up the coast and into southern Israel amid explosions as interceptor missiles streaked into the sky.
In the mixed Arab-Jewish town of Lod, near Tel Aviv, two people were killed after a rocket hit a vehicle in the area.
Lod and other mixed towns have been gripped by angry demonstrations over the Gaza violence and tensions in Jerusalem.