Dozens dead in fighting between Israel and Hamas
ISRAEL and Hamas have traded air strikes and rockets as bloodshed continues after weeks of tension focused on Jerusalem.
At least 26 Palestinians – including nine children and a woman – have been killed and 122 injured in Gaza since dusk on Monday, health officials there said.
Two high-rise buildings were hit as Israel made dozens of air strikes.
One blast sent terrified women and barefoot children running into the street, while another in Gaza City came as people were saying dawn prayers.
The Israeli military said at least 16 of the dead were militants.
Meanwhile, hundreds of rockets were fired from Gaza, killing two Israeli civilians and leaving ten others wounded.
It followed hours of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces, including at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a sacred site to Jews and Muslims.
Critics say heavy-handed police tactics helped stoke unrest, with another flashpoint the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where Palestinians are under threat of eviction by Jewish settlers.
Egypt has offered to broker a ceasefire, while Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned fighting could ‘continue for some time’.
Israeli military spokesman Lt Col Jonathan Conricus said it was in ‘the early stages’ of strikes against targets in Gaza planned well in advance.
Ashraf al-Kidra, of the Gaza Health Ministry, said the ‘relentless assault’ was overwhelming a healthcare system that is still struggling to cope with Covid-19.