![Smoke and flames rise in Gaza during Israeli air attacks amid a flare-up in violence. [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters]](/web/20210512151814im_/https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2021-05-12T081137Z_1397381312_RC23EN9SQSXK_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Protests over expulsion of Palestinian families and Israeli raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque preceded Israel’s Gaza bombardment.
Israeli army bombs police headquarters and security buildings in Gaza as authorities say 53 Palestinians killed, including 14 children, since escalation began.
![People carry the body of Wael Abdulkerim Isa who was killed in Israeli air strikes in Gaza Strip [Hassan Jedi/Anadolu Agency]](/web/20210512151814im_/https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/24519056-1.jpg?resize=770%2C513)
Heavy bombardment on the Gaza Strip has continued into Wednesday as Israeli forces launched intensive raids on various locations across the besieged coastal territory.
Hamas, the group that rules the Gaza Strip, confirmed that its Gaza City commander, Bassem Issa, was killed in an Israeli airstrike along with other senior members of the group.
Local sources said Israeli fighter jets bombed sites belonging to Palestinian armed groups, in addition to security and police buildings. In Gaza City’s Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood, a pregnant woman, Reema Telbani and her child were killed by an Israeli attack on their home.
Gaza’s ministry of health said the overall death toll since the latest offensive began stood at 53, including 14 children. More than 300 others have been wounded.
Six Israelis have also been killed. The Israeli army said that about 1,500 rockets have been fired from Gaza towards various locations in Israel and they have added reinforcements near the enclave’s eastern lands.
Here are the latest updates:
Tensions in the Middle East have caused alarm in Europe, with leaders weighing in on the deadly conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
From calls for ‘restraint’ to worries about possible war crimes, political leaders and international courts in Europe weigh in on latest escalation.
Read more here.
🚨 #ICC Prosecutor #FatouBensouda on the recent escalation of violence in #Gaza, the #WestBank, including #EastJerusalem ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/jZlns3d92I
— Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) May 12, 2021
Mairav Zonszein, a senior analyst on Israel and Palestine at Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera that the level of unrest and violence in mixed Israeli-Palestinian cities was “unprecedented”.
“This is a convergence of many different factors. Unfortunately, in some ways the chickens have come home to roost. Israeli policies in mixed Israeli-Palestinian towns has never really been one of co-existence.
“There has been the same discrimination that you see in east Jerusalem happens inside Israel as well – in terms of housing policy discrimination, in rights, in all aspects of life, crime and negligence of the Israeli government – which Palestinian, Arab-Israeli parties have been calling out for years, asking for higher budgets, asking the police to rein in this violence. None of that has been happening, the government has neglected that,” explained ZonsZein.
Israelis are eating themselves up trying to figure out why some Palestinian citizens of state are taking to streets in Lod, Akko, and Rahat, lighting property on fire and rioting. Now they interest you? Listen its terrible but 73 years of discrimination might help you understand. pic.twitter.com/4QN01MzMHR
— Louis Fishman لوي فيشمان לואי פישמן (@Istanbultelaviv) May 11, 2021
“What we are seeing is the result (of this) together with the the convergence of what’s been happening in east Jerusalem and in Gaza.”
“Coexistence has always been an illusion – Israel has a policy of discrimination on all fronts,” she added.
Director of Al Shifa Hospital, Mohammed Abu Silmiya, told Al Jazeera Arabic that Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have put pressure on a medical system which was already stretched to the breaking point.
“The situation is more than dire, simply because the Gaza strip has been under a tight siege for the past 14 years, he said, explaining that both the siege and coronavirus pandemic have exhausted Gaza’s health sector.
“Israel’s recent unjust and belligerent aggression has added insult to injury.”
“Our operating rooms have been suffering from a lack of supplies over the past 15 years – medicines are in short supply in the entire Gaza strip. This hospital has been running on the same devices and appliances for the past 20 years,” said Abu Slimiya.
Palestinians inside a hospital in the northern Gaza Strip after Israeli air raids hit the Strip [Mohamed Abed/AFP]
Sergei Vershinin, a Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, called on Israel to “immediately” stop all settlement activities in the Palestinian Territories, RIA news agency reported.
Vershinin also said that Moscow called for the “status quo of Jerusalem’s sacred sites” to be respected, RIA reported.
A demonstrator holds a banner and Palestinian flag during a protest against Israeli settlements, in Beit Dajan in the Israeli-occupied West Bank [File: Raneen Sawafta/Reuters]
China’s special envoy on the Middle East, Zhai Jun, expressed “deep concern” over escalating violence in Palestinians and Israel and urged all parties to exercise restraint to avoid further casualties.
In a meeting with Arab envoys and the chief representative of the Arab League in China, Zhai said Beijing would continue to push the UN Security Council to take action on the situation in East Jerusalem as soon as possible, according to a foreign ministry statement.
The mother of Palestinian Rasheed Abu Arra, who was killed by Israeli forces, mourns her son alongside other women, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank [Raneen Sawafta/Reuters]
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Naftali Bennett, leader of the right-wing Israeli Yamina party, said that the creation of a Palestinian state would annihilate Israelis.
“It would create a terror state that does not exist yet in Judea and Samaria,” he said in reference to the occupied West Bank.
“It would effectively deem Israel unable to defend itself. We see what they [Palestinians] turned Gaza into. No Israeli is going to give up Judea and Samaria and allow them to create a terror state,” he added.
The former Israeli defense minister went on to call the West Bank “part and parcel of Israel”, adding that Palestinians living there should move to other Arab countries.
“The Arabs have tens of countries to live in,” said Bennet.
Former Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett [File: Atef Safadi/Reuters]
The Israeli army says that a soldier was killed in an anti-tank missile attack near the Gaza Strip, the first military death in three days of fighting with Hamas.
The army identified the soldier killed on Wednesday morning as Staff Sgt. Omer Tabib, 21. An officer and another soldier were wounded in the attack.
Italy and Germany want an immediate end to the violence between Israel and Palestinian militants, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said after talks with his German counterpart.
“We strongly request all the parties to immediately take measures aimed at de-escalation and to exercise the greatest restraint,” De Maio said in a statement.
Mourners react during the funeral of Khalil Awaad and his daughter Nadine, in the village of Dahmash near the Israeli city of Lod [Heidi Levine/AP]
Hanan Ashrawi, a former leading member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), called on the international community to end Israel’s “unbridled use of violence.”
“You have here an unbridled use of violence by the strongest army in the region targeting innocent civilians, targeting residential buildings in an area that has been totally closed in, besieged without any means of defense, with no air force, no shelters, with no sirens and at the same time the Israelis claim self-defense.”
“This is not new but this escalation is new. It has been emboldened by the Trump administration’s collusion, the Biden administration’s lack of action and the reticence of the Europeans so the question now is do you allow Israel to target Jerusalem, to kick out Palestinians, the [third] highest holy site during Ramadan and to get away with it?”
Hamas, the group that rules the Gaza Strip, has confirmed that its Gaza City commander was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday.
Bassem Issa is the highest-ranking military figure in Hamas to be killed by Israel since a 2014 war in Gaza.
In a statement, the armed wing of Hamas said Issa was killed “along with a few of his fellow brothers of leaders and holy fighters” during the fighting that has been going on for two days in Gaza.
Earlier, Israel’s internal security agency said that a series of Israeli airstrikes had killed Issa and several other senior Hamas leaders.
Issa and several commanders responsible for the different districts of the Gaza Strip form the military council of Hamas, the highest body deciding the group’s operations.
People carry the body of Wael Abdulkerim Isa who was killed in Israeli air strikes in Gaza Strip [Hassan Jedi/Anadolu Agency]
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will use “an iron fist if needed” to stop protests by its Palestinian citizens.
“We are continuing our efforts to stop the anarchy and restore governance to the cities of Israel, with an iron fist if needed, with all forces needed and all authorities required,” he said, speaking in Acre along Israel’s northern coastline.
Dozens of Palestinians were arrested at protests in other towns and cities within the Green Line, the generally recognised boundary between Israel and the West Bank.
In the central city of Lod, also known as Lydd, a state of emergency was declared for the first time in 66 years. Israeli authorities ordered the redeployment of paramilitary border police companies from the occupied West Bank as reinforcements.
Thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel protested in the city after the funeral of Moussa Hassouneh, who was shot dead by a Jewish settler on Monday.
The crowd fought with police and set a synagogue and some 30 vehicles on fire, Israeli media reported.
The armed wing of Hamas, the al-Qassam Brigades, said it has fired at least 15 rockets at the Israeli city of Dimona.
Located in the southern Negev (or Naqab) desert, Dimona is home to a nuclear power plant.
At least 50 rockets were also fired at Ashdod, Hamas said. Photos of smoke rising from Ashdod’s port were published by Israeli media.
The Israeli army and intelligence said they have carried out air strikes that killed senior members of the al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza City and Khan Younis that were close to Hamas’s elusive commander Mohammad Deif.
Deif, whose whereabouts and presence is shrouded in secrecy, has survived five assassination attempts by Israel over the years and is their most wanted man.
The health ministry in the Gaza Strip said the number of Palestinians killed has now risen to 53, including 14 children and three women.
At least 320 others have been wounded.
The armed wing of the Islamic Jihad group said in a statement it has fired more than 100 rockets early on Wednesday morning towards Tel Aviv and the surrounding areas.
A spokesman for the al-Quds Brigades said three of its commanders were killed by Israeli air raids in the Gaza Strip on Monday, and identified them as Sameh Fahim al-Mamluk, Kamal Taiseer Qureiqe, and Mohammed Yahya Abu Atah.
“We will continue to respond to Israel’s aggressions,” the spokesman said. “We will not back down on our resistance no matter what the price is.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday called for Israel and the Palestinians to step back from the brink and for both sides to show restraint.
“The UK is deeply concerned by the growing violence and civilian casualties and we want to see an urgent de-escalation of tensions,” Johnson said on Twitter.
I am urging Israel and the Palestinians to step back from the brink and for both sides to show restraint. The UK is deeply concerned by the growing violence and civilian casualties and we want to see an urgent de-escalation of tensions.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) May 12, 2021
Smoke rises after Israeli air raids on Gaza City on May 12 2012 [Khalil Hamra/AP Photo]
“The IDF [Israeli army] will continue to strike and bring complete silence for the long term,” he said, speaking from the southern city of Ashkelon.
“In Gaza, towers are falling, factories are collapsing, tunnels are being wiped out and commanders are being assassinated.”
Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said he expected the fighting to intensify and, when asked about unconfirmed reports that Hamas might seek a ceasefire, said: “I don’t think my commanders are aware, or particularly interested.”
Gaza’s health ministry said the death toll in Gaza has risen to 48, including 14 children and three women.
At least 304 others have been wounded.
A picture taken with a drone shows the remains of a tower building which was destroyed in Israeli air attacks in Gaza City on May 12, 2021 [Mohammed Salem/Reuters]
Palestinian rescuers evacuate an elderly woman from a building following Israeli air attacks on Gaza City, on Wednesday, May 12, 2021 [Khalil Hamra/AP Photo]
Erdogan told Putin the international community needed to “teach a deterrent lesson” to Israel, adding that Ankara was working to mobilise this reaction, according to a statement from his office.
Erdogan also called for work to be done on sending international peacekeepers to the region to help safeguard Palestinians, a proposal Turkey has made since 2018.
The Gaza health ministry said the number of Palestinians killed from Israeli air attacks is now at 43 Palestinians, including 13 children and three women.
At least 290 others have been wounded, Al Jazeera journalist Safwat al-Kahlout said.
“In the last hour, there were two Israeli air strikes,” al-Kahlout said, speaking from Gaza City.
Parts of a broken mannequin lie on the ground near a tower building which was hit by Israeli air raids in Gaza City May 12, 2021. [Mohammed Salem/Reuters]
“In a separate attack on Gaza City, there was another Israeli air strike on a car,” he continued. “Eyewitnesses said a woman and her two children were [killed] in the car.”
Smoke and flames rise during Israeli air raids in the Gaza Strip on May 12, 2021 [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters]
“Israeli occupation planes launched successive raids that resulted in the destruction of all police headquarters buildings in Gaza City,” Eyad al-Bozom, a ministry spokesman said Wednesday morning.
Dozens of loud explosions were heard in western Gaza.
The Israeli army said it had shelled a building during the night that housed senior members of Hamas’s military intelligence service.
The homes of key Hamas representatives were also attacked, the Israeli military said.
An Israeli soldier has been killed after a military jeep stationed on the outskirts of the northern Gaza Strip was targeted by the military wing of Hamas.
Earlier, the al-Qassam Brigades said three Israelis were wounded after it targeted the jeep with a Kornet missile.
According to Israeli media, the soldier succumbed to injuries after an anti-tank missile was fired on the jeep.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has expressed concern about escalating violence in the occupied West Bank and the possibility that war crimes are being committed there, its prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said.
“I note with great concern the escalation of violence in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as in and around Gaza, and the possible commission of crimes under the Rome Statute,” Bensouda wrote on Twitter.
🚨 #ICC Prosecutor #FatouBensouda on the recent escalation of violence in #Gaza, the #WestBank, including #EastJerusalem ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/jZlns3d92I
— Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) May 12, 2021
Black smoke billows after a series of Israeli air raids targeted Khan Younis in the southern Gaza strip, early on May 12, 2021 [Youssef Massoud/AFP]
“We’ve spoken to a PLO executive committee member who told us that the language the international community has been using is not strong enough to curb the Israeli violations,” Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim said, speaking from Ramallah.
Ibrahim said that for many Palestinians, the usual track the PA resorts to in times of escalation of appealing to the international community to condemn Israel is not enough.
“There’s a growing feeling among Palestinians that Israel only understands the language of force, which is why we’ve seen in the protests in the occupied West Bank in the past few days people calling on Gaza [armed groups] to respond,” she said.
Hamas head Ismail Haniya said he had told mediators the problem is not with Gaza but with Israel, adding that the group Hamas is “ready” if Israel increases its attacks.
“If (Israel) wants to escalate, we are ready for it, and if it wants to stop, we’re also ready,” Haniya, who currently lives outside the Strip, said in a televised address.
This happened in front of my house #GazaUnderAttack pic.twitter.com/BsUgoq0Yrx
— Farah Baker (@Farah_Gazan) May 12, 2021
Haniya went on to say that linking Jerusalem with the Gaza Strip is reflective of equating “resistance with identity” and hailed the protests that have broken out among Palestinians within Israel and the occupied territories.
“We are all moving together in a coherent manner in order to confront the occupation,” he said.
Haniya renewed the call for all “our Palestinian people to unite the ranks” and called on the Palestinian Authority to “stop security cooperation” with Israel.
A Palestinian teenager has been shot dead by Israeli forces during a raid on Aqaba village, east of the occupied West Bank town of Tubas.
Rashid Abu Arreh, 16, was killed after Israeli forces raided the village to arrest another Palestinian, Sheikh Mustafa Abu Ara.
Medical sources also said that Hussein al-Titi, 26, was shot dead during protests against the Israeli army in al-Fawwar refugee camp, south of Hebron.
استشهاد الشاب حسين عطية الطيطي 26 عاماً من مخيم الفوار جنوب الخليل، خلال مواجهات مع الاحتلال شهدها المخيم قبل قليل. pic.twitter.com/qZctxWAA1G
— shatha hammad | شذى حماد (@shathahammad4) May 12, 2021
Translation: Hussein Atiya al-Titi, 26 years old, was killed in Fuwwar refugee camp south of Hebron during confrontations with Israeli forces.
For updates from Tuesday, May 11, please click here.
Protests over expulsion of Palestinian families and Israeli raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque preceded Israel’s Gaza bombardment.
Large demonstrations held in chief cities around the world in condemnation of Israel’s actions.
Rashid Abu Arreh, 16, shot dead in Tubas, after killing of Hussein al-Titi, 26, during protests in al-Fawwar camp.
Nine children among 28 Palestinians killed in Gaza by Israeli air raids in the last 24 hours.
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