Netanyahu warns Gaza attacks to continue as air strikes kill 42
ISRAELI air strikes on Gaza City flattened three buildings and killed at least 42 people yesterday, according to reports, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signalled fighting with the territory’s Hamas rulers would continue despite international efforts to broker a ceasefire.
In a televised address, Mr Netanyahu said the attacks were continuing at
“full force” and would “take time”.
Israel “wants to levy a heavy price” from Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers, the prime minister said, flanked by his defence minister and political rival, Benny Gantz, in a show of unity.
The Israeli air assault began just after midnight and was the deadliest single attack since heavy fighting broke out between Israel and Hamas nearly a week ago, marking the worst fighting since the devastating 2014 war in Gaza.
The air strikes hit a city centre street, with residential properties and shops along it, over the course of five minutes, destroying two adjacent buildings and one about 50 yards down the road.
The Gaza health ministry said 16 women and 10 children were among those killed, with more than 50 people wounded, and that rescue efforts were continuing.
Earlier, the Israeli military said it had destroyed the home of Gaza’s top Hamas leader, Yahiyeh Sinwar, in a separate strike in the southern town of Khan Younis. It was the third such attack on the homes of senior Hamas leaders, who have gone underground, in the last two days.
Israel appears to have stepped up strikes in recent days to inflict as much damage as possible on Hamas, as international mediators work to end the violence.
But targeting the group’s leaders could hinder those efforts.
A US diplomat is in the region to try to de-escalate tensions, while the UN Security Council was also meeting yesterday.
Israel has levelled a number of Gaza City’s tallest office and residential buildings in its air strikes, alleging they contain Hamas military infrastructure. Among them was the high-rise property housing the Associated Press office. The building also housed the TV network Al Jazeera and other media outlets, along with several floors of apartments.
The latest violence began in East Jerusalem last month, when Palestinian protests and clashes with police broke out in response to Israeli police tactics during Ramadan and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish illegal settlers.
A focal point of clashes was the Al-aqsa Mosque, a frequent flashpoint located on a hilltop compound that is revered by both Muslims and Jews.
Hamas fired rockets toward Jerusalem last Monday, triggering the Israeli assault on impoverished Gaza, which is home to more than two million Palestinians and has been under an Israeli and Egyptian blockade since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007.
At least 188 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including 55 children and 33 women, with 1,230 people wounded. Eight people in Israel have been killed, including a five-year-old boy and a soldier.
Speaking alongside Mr Netanyahu yesterday, Israel’s military chief, Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi, said Hamas did not anticipate Israel’s overwhelming response to its rocket fire. “Hamas made a serious and grave mistake and didn’t read us properly,” he said.
Hamas and other militant groups have fired some 2,900 rockets into Israel. The military said 450 of the rockets had fallen short or misfired, while Israeli air defences had intercepted 1,150.
The turmoil has also spilled over elsewhere, fuelling protests in the occupied West Bank and stoking violence within Israel between its Jewish and Arab citizens, with clashes and vigilante attacks on people and property.
The violence also sparked pro-palestinian protests in cities across Europe and America, with French police firing tear gas and water cannons at demonstrators in Paris.
Hamas and the Islamic Jihad militant group acknowledged 20 fighters had been killed since violence broke out on Monday. Israel said the real number was far higher and released the names and photos of two dozen alleged operatives it said were “eliminated”.
Hamas made a serious and grave mistake and didn’t read us properly