Fears of war
the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers.
There are fears Hamas has increased its supply of Iranian antitank guided missiles.
An Israel Defence Force sergeant, 21, yesterday became the first military Israeli to die in the conflict when he was hit by an anti-tank missile near the Gaza border. Two other soldiers are thought to have been injured. Hamas claimed responsibility.
Israeli sources also warned some Hamas rockets have a lower trajectory to avoid its “Iron Dome” air defence system.
Foreign Office minister Zac Goldsmith risked a No 10 slapdown by tweeting: “No country on earth would be expected to tolerate attacks by an organisation committed to their total eradication. Why should Israel?”
In Gaza, a residential building collapsed in airstrikes by the Israeli Defence Force. Witnesses said one strike killed three people in a car. The main hospital in the enclave is struggling with Covid-19 cases and now has hundreds of wounded to treat. Israeli sources said last night a ground offensive against Hamas and Islamic Jihad was “unlikely” but tanks and troops amassed at border. Israel said its warplanes had killed Hamas intelligence leaders, commanders and weapons experts.
Domestic security unit the Shin Bet said the dead include veteran Hamas brigade commander for Gaza City Bassim Issa, and cyber and missile technology chief Jomaa Tahla.
In Tel Aviv, Israel’s biggest city, sirens heralded waves of rocket strikes.
“The children have escaped the coronavirus, and now a new trauma,” an Israeli woman in the coastal city of Ashkelon said. Israelis ran to shelters in communities more than 45 miles up the coast from Gaza as interceptor missiles streaked across the sky.
Margo Aronovic, a 26-year-old student in Tel Aviv, said: “The whole of Israel is under attack.” Two people were killed when a rocket hit their car in Lod, near Tel Aviv. Lod and other mixed Arab-Jewish towns have been gripped by violent demonstrations.
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said Israeli forces had attacked “many hundreds of targets” and killed senior militants in Gaza.
He warned that “all means and options” remained on the table.
He added: “The Israeli military will continue to attack and will bring about complete and long-term quiet. Only when we achieve this goal, can we talk about calming down. At the moment, there is no end-date.”
Hamas, branded terrorists by Israel and the US, said it fired 210 rockets towards Beersheba and Tel Aviv overthe night in response to the Gaza strikes. Israel said about a third fell short.
The conflict has led to the freezing of talks by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponents on forming a coalition to unseat him after Israel’s inconclusive March 23 polls.
Violence has also flared in the occupied West Bank. Medical sources said a 16-year-old Palestinian was killed.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said: “If they [Israeli forces] want to escalate, the resistance is ready, if they want to stop, the resistance is ready.”
One of Israel’s two chief rabbis appealed for restraint as street attacks by Jews on the Arab minority were reported. Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said: “We must not be dragged into provocations and inflicting harm on people or property.”
Stop the fire immediately... leaders on all sides have to take the responsibility
TOR WENNESLAND THE UN’S MIDDLE EAST SPECIAL ENVOY
THERE are concerns the violence in Jerusalem and Gaza could escalate into war.
The Israeli military has responded to rocket attacks by Palestinian militants by unleashing a wave of air strikes. Brokering a ceasefire is imperative and urgent if we are to prevent the loss of more civilian lives and stop the situation descending into a conflict which risks engulfing other parts of the Middle East.
The international community must exert whatever influence it has on the Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Then work must once again begin trying to find a lasting settlement based on the two-state solution.