Israel bombs Gaza in ‘deadliest day so far’ as more than 200 now killed in violence – World News
Israel launched dozens of air strikes on the Gaza strip as Palestinian militants fired rocket barrages at Israeli cities in what could be the ‘deadliest day so far’.
Gaza health officials put the death toll since the hostilities flared at 198, including 58 children and 34 women.
Ten people have been killed in Israel, including two children, Israeli authorities say.
The pre-dawn raids on Gaza were among the heaviest seen since the fighting started up again a week ago, the BBC reported.
Gaza officials said Sunday had been the deadliest day of the flare-up so far.
Hamas began its rocket assault last Monday after weeks of tensions over a court case to evict several Palestinian families in East Jerusalem, and in retaliation for Israeli police clashes with Palestinians near the city’s al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
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Israel bombed what it said were underground tunnels used by Hamas while Palestinian militants fired rocket barrages at Israeli cities as fighting spilled into a second week today.
After a night of heavy Israeli air strikes on areas across the Islamist Hamas-run enclave, Israel’s military said Gaza militants had fired about 60 rockets towards Israeli cities overnight, down from 120 and 200 the two previous nights.
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A Palestinian sponge factory in northern Gaza was hit in a morning air strike and firefighters battled to quell the blaze, which sent plumes of smoke into the air.
One Palestinian was killed in an air strike later in the morning, medics said.
After rockets were fired from Gaza at the Israeli cities of Beersheba and Ashkelon, Israeli jets bombed what the military said were 15 km (nine miles) of underground tunnels used by Hamas.
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It also struck nine residences belonging to high-ranking Hamas commanders, it said.
With the sounds of Israeli bombardment continuing throughout the morning, Gaza residents rushed to bakeries and drugstores to stock up on bread and other essentials.
“My children couldn’t sleep all night even after the wave of intensive bombing stopped,” said Umm Naeem, 50, a mother of five, as she shopped for bread in Gaza City.
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“What is happening to us is too much, but Jerusalem deserves all the sacrifices.”
World concern had already deepened after an Israeli air strike in Gaza that destroyed several homes on Sunday and which Palestinian health officials said killed 42 people, including 10 children, and persistent rocket attacks on Israeli towns.
“All parties need to deescalate tensions – the violence must end immediately”, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote on Twitter, injecting more urgency into Washington’s calls for calm after speaking with Egypt’s foreign minister.
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At a U.N. Security Council meeting on Sunday, the United States said it had made clear to Israel, the Palestinians and others that it was ready to offer support “should the parties seek a ceasefire”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s campaign in Gaza was continuing at “full force”, and that deterrence had to be achieved to prevent future conflict with Hamas.
“We are acting now, for as long as necessary, to restore calm and quiet to you, Israel’s citizens. It will take time,” Netanyahu said in a televised address after his security Cabinet met on Sunday.
