Conflict rages as pursuit of truce gathers speed
Overnight, Israel again pounds Gaza Strip with airstrikes and artillery fire
Diplomatic efforts gathered pace on Thursday for a ceasefire on the 11th day of deadly violence between Israel and armed Palestinian groups in Gaza as airstrikes again hammered the enclave.
A column of grey smoke billowed above Gaza after a night in which families cowered in fear from the bombing while, the Israeli army said, some 70 rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel, sending residents fleeing into bomb shelters.
Talks continued to end the bloodshed after US President Joe Biden urged a “significant de-escalation”, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to push on until the military campaign reaches its objective, “to restore quiet and security” for Israelis.
Key talks in Qatar
UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland was visiting Qatar for talks with Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the Islamist group Hamas that rules the enclave, as part of an effort to “restore calm”, according to a diplomatic source.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said “indirect talks” with Hamas were essential to advancing efforts towards an end of hostilities. “Of course, Hamas has to be included because without Hamas there will be no ceasefire,” she said.
A senior Hamas official told AFP, “We expect a return to calm in the coming hours, or tomorrow (Friday), but it depends on the cessation of the aggression of the occupation forces in Gaza and Jerusalem. “But there is nothing definitive for the moment,” added the source, indicating that Qatar, an emirate financing aid to Gaza and where Haniyeh lives, was at the heart of “intense” negotiations.
Numbers keep going up
The Israeli army said Hamas and other Islamist armed groups in Gaza have fired 4,070 rockets towards Israel, with the overwhelming majority of those that were bound for populated areas intercepted by its Iron Dome air defences. The rockets have claimed 12 lives in Israel, including one child, with one Indian and two Thai nationals among those killed, the police say.
Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed 230 Palestinians, including 65 children, according to the Gaza health ministry, leaving vast areas in rubble and displacing some 120,000 people.
Overnight, Israel continued to pound Gaza with airstrikes and artillery fire aimed at destroying Hamas tunnels and other infrastructure, the military said.
One Israeli strike on Gaza on Wednesday killed a disabled man, his pregnant wife and their three-year-old child, the enclave’s health ministry said. “What did my brother do?” the man’s bereaved brother Omar Saleha, 31, told AFP. “He was just sitting in his wheelchair.”
UN human rights body to convene special session
The UN’S top human rights body will hold a special session next week to address “the grave human rights situation” in Palestinian areas of Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
The UN Human Rights Council will convene the May 27 meeting following a request presented by Pakistan, as coordinator of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation.
The session at the 47-member-state body in Geneva paves the way for a day-long debate over the recent deadly violence between Israelis and Palestinians in the conflict that has raged for decades. More than 60 member states have so far expressed support for the special session.