Israeli fighter jets have attacked high-rise buildings and other targets in the Gaza Strip as Palestinians in the besieged enclave woke up on Thursday to mark the Eid al-Fitr religious holiday under relentless aerial bombardment.
Since the Israeli offensive began late on Monday, Gaza’s health ministry says at least 83 people, including 17 children, have been killed. More than 480 others have been wounded.
At least seven Israelis have also been killed. The Israeli army said hundreds of rockets have been fired from Gaza towards various locations in Israel and they have added reinforcements near the enclave’s eastern lands.
There have also been more violent confrontations between Jewish Israelis and Palestinian citizens of Israel in several cities inside Israel.
Here are the latest updates:
PM Johnson says UK wants urgent de-escalation
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Britain wanted to see an urgent de-escalation of violence in Israel.
“Certainly we in the UK are very sad to see what is happening and the cycle of violence that now seems to be taking place,” Johnson told reporters.
“I think it’s important that we break that cycle and we end this idea of reprisals, and I think that what everybody wants to see is urgent, urgent de-escalation.”
Egypt, Russia say Israel needs to stop Gaza attacks
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov agreed that Israel needs to stop attacks on the Gaza Strip.
In a phone call, the two top diplomats reiterated that Israel should stop the bloodshed, according to a statement issued by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.
‘Our weapons are for sake of our land, to defend our people’: Hamas
The spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, warned Israel there are “no red lines if al-Aqsa is violated”.
Abu Obeida said the decision to bomb Dimona, Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities “is easier for us than drinking water”.
“We reassure our people that we have more rockets in our inventory, and our missile strikes have revealed the enemy’s fragility,” he said.
As Israel is preparing ground troops east of the Gaza Strip, Abu Obedia said the Israeli army will sorely regret carrying out a ground invasion.
“Our weapons are for our land, for the defense of our people and victory for our sanctities,” the military spokesman said,
“What distinguishes this battle is the solidarity of the Palestinians across the country and their unanimous support for resistance.”
Lufthansa suspends flights to Tel Aviv through Friday
German airline Lufthansa said it was suspending all flights to Tel Aviv through Friday, May 14.
“Lufthansa is closely monitoring the current situation in Israel and continues to maintain a close exchange with the authorities, security service providers and our own staff on the ground,” read a statement from the company.
Lufthansa said it expected flights to Israel to resume on Saturday, May 15.
Israel orders ‘massive reinforcement’ to quell internal violence
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz ordered a “massive reinforcement” of security forces to help contain deadly internal unrest that has rocked mixed Jewish and Arab communities across the country.
“We are in an emergency situation due to the national violence and it is now necessary to have a massive reinforcement of forces on the ground, and they are to be sent immediately to enforce law and order,” he said.
He specified the forces would be reservists from Israel’s border police, a force that largely operates in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli army wounds 35 in occupied West Bank
At least 35 Palestinians were wounded in confrontations with the Israeli army in various locations in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim reported.
Ibrahim said that the majority of people were hit by live ammunition and that most injuries occurred in the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
“It was an exceptionally high number of injuries by live fire which shows us that the situation could be escalating rapidly,” she added.
Gaza death toll rises to 83
The number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip has now risen to 83, including 17 children, the local health ministry has said. More than 480 others have been wounded amid the ongoing violence.
Where will Israel’s assault on Palestinians end?
In this episode of The Stream, Al Jazeera will look at what’s happening in Gaza and occupied East Jerusalem and ask what it will take to stop the violence.
1,600 rockets fired from Gaza: Israel’s military
More than 1,600 rockets have been launched from Gaza at Israel since the latest flare-up of fighting began earlier this week, according to Israel’s military.
Around 400 went down over Gaza, spokesman Jonathan Conricus said. The success rate of Israel’s Iron Dome aerial defence system continues to average around 90 per cent at intercepting rockets, he added.
Israel’s military has attacked around 600 targets in the Gaza Strip, including rocket production and storage facilities. A tunnel was also targeted that Conricus said was used partially to hide fighters and was built under a school in a populated area.
The Israeli army also said that it is going to present a plan for a ground operation for the political leadership, said Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett reporting from southern Israel, close to the border with the Gaza Strip.
“That doesn’t mean that it [the plan] will go ahead as a ground offensive in Gaza would be a huge escalatory step that carries with it a huge amount of risk,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fawcett reported that further rockets were fired out of Gaza in the course of the night adding that some reports said that more barrage will come through the day.
“So the escalatory nature of the situation remains pretty much in place”.
Fresh Israeli air raid on Rafah city
The city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip has been hit by a fresh Israeli air raid, while a barrage of rockets were launched from Gaza towards Israeli cities close to the enclave, Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Ramallah, said.
“Gaza is a relatively small piece of land with two million Palestinians – one of the most condensed areas in the world so you can imagine the impact of these targets,” said Ibrahim.
“It is also such a closed zone the chances of hitting civilians gets very high as Palestinians can tell you from previous wars,” she added.
What started out as protests against forced expulsions in a Palestinian neighbourhood has turned into an Israeli crackdown that’s engulfed much of occupied East Jerusalem, including holy sites like Al Aqsa Mosque.
But Sheikh Jarrah is just one neighbourhood, and displacements are unfolding across the occupied territories.
As the reverberations in Sheikh Jarrah spread beyond, how will it impact the future of Palestinians in Jerusalem?
Listen to Al Jazeera’s podcast The Take, with our host, Malika Bilal.
‘Take a step back’: UK minister
Britain’s minister for the Middle East has urged “both sides to take a step back” from the brink of what he described as a terrible escalation.
“We have seen however an unprecedented level of rocket attack into Israel,” James Cleverly, a junior foreign minister who deals with the Middle East and North Africa, told Sky News. “We want to see the rocket attacks stop.”
Preparing for ‘multiple scenarios’: Israel military
Israel’s military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said attacks on Gaza will continue as Israel prepares for “multiple scenarios”.
“We have ground units that are prepared and are in various stages of preparing ground operations,” he told reporters Thursday.
Muslims perform Eid al-Fitr prayers in Al-Aqsa Mosque compound [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP]
Eid prayers
Hundreds of worshippers have attended Eid prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, Islam’s third holiest site.
“We in Gaza and all of Palestine do not feel the joy of this Eid because of this devastating aggression carried out by the occupation forces on Gaza and all of Palestine in general,” said Moe’n Ahmad, a resident from Gaza.
Religious leaders called for calm on the day that marks the end of Ramadan for Muslims around the world.
Translation: Performing the absentee prayer for the souls of Gaza martyrs at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Turkey calls on Muslims to take clear stance over Gaza
Muslim countries must show a united and clear stance over Israel’s conflict with the Hamas movement in Gaza, said Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay as he criticised world powers for condemning violence without acting.
“What we desire is that active measures are taken,” Oktay told reporters after morning prayers marking the end of Ramadan.
“There are decisions taken repeatedly at the United Nations, there are condemnations. But unfortunately no result has been obtained, because a clear stance is not displayed.”
Rockets prompt diversion of Tel Aviv flights
All passenger flights to Israel’s Ben Gurion international airport near Tel Aviv were being diverted to a southern airport amid persistent rocket fire from Gaza, the airports authority said.
It said guidelines were in place for passenger planes to land at Ramon Airport near the southern resort city of Eilat from early on Thursday.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
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