Israel continues to pound Gaza, attacks Lebanon
At least 227 Palestinians, including 64 children, have been killed in Gaza since the latest violence flared on 10 May
![A man inspects a damaged vehicle in the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City [Mohammed Salem/Reuters]](https://947631.windlasstrade-hk.tech/sites/default/files/styles/big_3/public/images/2021/05/19/2021-05-19t061253z_1360564097_rc2tin9v7otr_rtrmadp_3_israel-palestinians.jpg)
Israeli fighter jets continued to pummel the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Wednesday, flattening residential buildings and killing at least four Palestinians, including a journalist.
The latest raids came as Palestinian groups launched more rockets towards cities in southern Israel, reports the Al Jazeera.
At least 227 Palestinians, including 64 children, have been killed in Gaza since the latest violence flared on 10 May. More than 1,600 Palestinians have been wounded.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Here are the latest updates:
Gaza death toll reaches 227: Health ministry
Death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza has reached 227, including 38 women and 64 children, according to the enclave's health ministry. The number of those injured has hit 1,620, it said.
Save the Children in Gaza unable to reach people in need
Mazen Naim, communications officer for Save the Children in Gaza, told Al Jazeera that the ongoing Israeli airstrikes were preventing international organisations from delivering aid and assessing the damages in Gaza.
"We draw up plans and wait until the ceasefire happens so we are able to reach people and deliver the assistance and do the assessment of the schools," he said.
"The first step is to do an assessment of the damage and raise funds for the rebuilding and rehabilitation for the schools, everything that's related to the physical side in order to resume education which is going to be expensive, exhausting and will take a lot of effort from international donors and aid organisation here on the ground."
"But there is also the psychological part, the children themselves will be suffering from trauma and post traumatic stress disorder and various other disorders," he said.
Iran supports Palestinians' fight against Israel: Guards chief
Iran supports Palestinians' fight against Israel, the head of the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guards said in a televised speech.
"Tehran backs the Palestinians' fight against the Zionist regime (Israel)," Hossein Salami said. "The Palestinians have emerged as a missile-equipped nation."
Israel 'prepared for any scenario'
Israel's military tweeted that it is ready for "any scenario on any front".
Security sources in Lebanon have told Reuters news agency that four rockets were launched from Seddiqine, a village near to Lebanon's southern coastal city of Tyre.
It is not immediately clear who fired the rockets, and there have been no initial reports of damage on either side.
Tehran stages pro-Palestinian protest
Al Jazeera's Assed Baig, reporting from a pro-Palestine protest in Tehran, said: "We have just heard Hamas' representative to Tehran address the crowd. Iran has been a staunch supporter of the Palestinians."
"In fact, they see the Palestinians as part of they call the axis of resistance which is made up of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, Syria and also various militias across Iraq."
He said Iran has been outspoken in its defence of the Palestinians and the condemnation of Israel.
"We've seen placards here and chants, the traditional chants of death to Israel and death to the United States. Iran hasn't hidden the fact that they support the Palestinians in terms of technology and know how when it comes to those rockets and drones."
Biden tells Netanyahu he expected significant deescalation
Karine Jean-Pierre, White House principal deputy press secretary, said US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke again in the morning.
"The two had a detailed discussion on the state of events in Gaza, Israel's progress in degrading the capabilities of Hamas and other terrorist elements, and ongoing diplomatic efforts by regional governments and the United States," she said.
"The president conveyed to the prime minister that he expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire."
Israel launches strikes on Lebanon
Israel's military said its artillery has attacked "a number of targets in Lebanese territory," in response to rocket fire from within the country.
In an earlier tweet,, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said four rockets had been fired into Israel, reports the BBC.
Several armed groups operate in Lebanon, including Hezbollah which fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006.
Arab League accuses Israel of ethnic cleansing
The Arab League parliament has convened an extraordinary meeting in Cairo to express solidarity with the Palestinians and condemn Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip.
The Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said: "The truth is becoming crystal clear now with all its ugliness and hideousness: we are before a colonising people that lives under an apartheid state and an occupation government that systematically practices ethnic cleansing."
Others also criticised Israel, with Arab parliament speaker Adel Al-Asoumi accusing Israel of "war crimes and of full-fledged crimes against humanity".
France urges truce, 'diplomatic action': Le Maire
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told Al Jazeera from Paris: "I think that President [Emmanuel] Macron has been very clear, diplomacy cannot be blocked on this long-running conflict."
"There is a need for a ceasefire, there is a need for diplomatic action and that's why President Macron has proposed this initiative with Egypt and Jordan," he said.
"I think these are very positive initiatives, and once again I think everywhere in the world, everybody is waiting for a ceasefire, is expecting a ceasefire [and] that's exactly the road that has been proposed by France and by President Macron."
Palestinian leader accuses Israel of war crimes
Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, has accused Israel of carrying out "organised state terrorism and war crimes" in Gaza.
In a televised statement, Abbas said Palestinians would "not hesitate to pursue those who commit such crimes in front of international courts", reports the BBC.
Israel says that it only attacks military targets and has made efforts to prevent civilians casualties, including warning nearby residents about incoming air strikes.
Earlier this year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) launched an investigation into possible war crimes committed by Israel and Palestinian groups in 2014, when the last major conflict in Gaza took place. The ICC has expressed concern about this latest round of violence between the two sides.
Barrage of rockets launched into Israel: media report
Sirens sounded in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod and Ashkelon, and in the central city of Rehvot due to a round of rockets launched from Gaza, Israeli media reported.
At least 333 wounded in Israel received medical treatment since violence flared on May 10, the Israeli Magen David Adom emergency service said on social media.
Israel says it has no 'timeframe' for end to Gaza hostilities
Israel said on Wednesday it was not setting a timeframe for an end to hostilities with Gaza as its military pounded the Palestinian enclave with air strikes and Hamas militants unleashed new cross-border rocket attacks.
Palestinian medical officials said 219 people had now been killed in 10 days of aerial bombardments which have destroyed roads, buildings and other infrastructure, and worsened the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Internally displaced peopleliving in 'extremely difficult conditions'
Gaza journalist Youmna al-Sayed, reporting from Gaza City's al-Shifa hospital, said that more than 72,000 internally displaced people live in "extremely difficult conditions" due to a shortage of food, water and electricity.
Health officials, al-Sayed said, are also concerned of the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the territory given that the only COVID-test laboratory is now inoperable due to damages caused by an Israeli air raid that hit a nearby building.
More civilian casualties in Gaza are unacceptable: Russia
A senior Russian official warned Israel's ambassador that actions that led to a further increase in civilian casualties in Gaza were unacceptable, Russia's foreign ministry said.
Israel not ruling out further escalation: Netanyahu
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is pursuing "forceful deterrence" against Gaza's Hamas rulers, but does not rule out a further escalation.
Meeting with foreign ambassadors, he said "you can either conquer them, and that's always an open possibility, or you can deter them."
Netanyahu said Israel hopes to restore quiet "quickly" and is doing everything it can to avoid civilian casualties.
Palestinian journalist killed in Gaza City
A Palestinian journalist was among those killed in Israeli air strikes in Gaza City overnight, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reports.
Yusef Abu Hussein, a journalist at Hamas's radio station Al-Aqsa Voice, died when warplanes bombed a house near the Sheikh Radwan cemetery in northern Gaza City, reports the BBC citing the Wafa.
Three other people were killed in a strike on a house in the western al-Rimal district, it added.
Local sources earlier told the BBC's Rushdi Abualouf in Gaza that two militants were killed when warplanes targeted an apartment in Gaza City.
Doctors also told him that a woman suffered a heart attack and died when a neighbour's home in Khan Younis was hit during a wave of air strikes in the southern city.
Wafa's report said the strikes targeted the al-Katibah area of Khan Younis, as well the nearby town of Bani Suheila and a site west of the city of Rafah, which is on the border with Egypt.
The Israeli military said it bombed part of a Hamas tunnel network in the area.
'We don't rule out anything': Netnayahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netnayahu has just briefed foreign journalists on the efforts to end the fighting.
"We're not standing with a stopwatch," he said, reports the BBC.
"We are taking care of the operation's objectives."
He said earlier that Israel was fighting to restore quiet and to maximise the amount of time that any truce with Hamas would last.
"There are only two ways that you can deal with them. You can either conquer them - and that's always an open possibility - or you can deter them," Netanyahu said.
"We are engaged right now in forceful deterrence, but I have to say we don't rule out anything."
Israel assessing if conditions right for ceasefire: Source
Israel is assessing whether conditions are right to halt its air campaign against Palestinian armed groups in Gaza but is preparing for "more days" of strikes if necessary, an Israeli military source told AFP news agency.
"We are looking at when is the right moment for a ceasefire," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The source added that Israel was evaluating whether its objective of degrading the capabilities of Gaza's Hamas rulers had been achieved and "whether Hamas understands the message" that its rocket barrages towards Israel cannot recur.
Dozens of Palestinian families evacuate Al-Andalus tower
Dozens of Palestinian families have rushed to evacuate their tower block after receiving a warning that Israel would destroy it in an air raid. The Al-Andalus tower is a 16-storey building in the north of Gaza City.
Smoke was seen rising from a warning shot fired by the Israeli army.
No ceasefire imminent, Israeli sources tell BBC
Israeli defence sources have poured cold water on the possibility of an imminent ceasefire.
"The IDF operation is continuing at full-throttle. There is still no ceasefire on the table," an official told the BBC on Wednesday.
Four people killed in Gaza
Israeli air raids killed at least four people in Gaza, destroyed seven residential houses, a youth centre in the southern town of Khan Younis and a charity centre in Rafah, local media reported.
The four Palestinians killed include a journalist in Gaza City's western area of Radwan and a family composed of husband, wife and son after their apartment was hit in Gaza City.
Members of the al-Astal family, whose house was among those destroyed overnight, said that a warning missile struck the building five minutes before the airstrike, allowing everyone to escape.
50 schools in Gaza, three in Israel damaged
Fifty schools in Gaza have been damaged by Israeli air raids over the past week, according to Save the Children, impacting a total of 41,897 children.
Three further schools have been damaged in Israel by rockets fired from Gaza, according to UNICEF.
UNRWA appeals for immediate humanitarian access
UNRWA is "deeply worried" about the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza, while it appealed for the immediate opening of the Erez and Karam Abu Salem crossings into the enclave.
The two crossings would enable the movement of critical humanitarian personnel, such as security officers, trauma coordinators and humanitarian supplies.
The ongoing hostilities are also taking place along a Covid-related health crisis in the Palestinian territories. "The pandemic, with people crowding seeking refuge, remains a serious emergency: Gaza and the West Bank just had the highest Covid-19 outbreaks recently, worse than India in terms of rate," read a statement from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
21 Palestinians arrested in the occupied West Bank
The Israeli police arrested 21 Palestinians protesters in various cities across the occupied West Bank, according to Wafa news agency.
Three were arrested in the city of Hebron, three in Nablus, three in Jenin and four on Bethlehem, local media reported.
Chile's Palestine community protest against Israeli raids
Chile's Palestinian community – the largest outside the Middle East, with more than 300,000 people – staged a protest in Santiago on Tuesday, denouncing Israel's deadly air attacks against Gaza.
More than 1,000 people met at the Club Palestino football headquarters in eastern Santiago, the AFP news agency reported.
Maurice Khamis, president of the Palestinian Community of Chile, said the protesters wanted to add "to the demonstrations that have taken place around the world… and also to support the hundreds of Palestinian civilian victims who have died in these Israeli attacks and bombings".
Israel dropped 122 bombs on Gaza in 25 minutes
The Israeli military dropped 122 bombs on Gaza during a 25 minute period on Tuesday night, the Times of Israel reported.
The raids, which began at 10pm local time, targeted an underground Hamas tunnel network in Gaza, the website said, quoting military spokesman, Hidai Zilberman.
Radio journalist killed in Gaza
A fourth Palestinian was killed in Israel's continuing raids on Gaza Strip, according to local media.
Yusef Abu Hussein was a journalist at the radio station, al-Aqsa Voice, according to the Wafa news agency and the Shehab news agency.
Israeli warplanes hit Gaza, three Palestinians killed
Israel continued to bomb the Gaza Strip as dawn approached on Wednesday, according to local media reports, hitting a residential building in central Gaza City and killing at least three Palestinians.
Three others were also wounded, the Wafa news agency said.
Palestinian armed groups also continued firing rockets towards Israel.
An AFP photographer reported streaks of light in the sky late on Tuesday as Israel's air defence system intercepted the rockets.
US condemns Erdogan comments on Jewish people as anti-Semitic
The United States on Tuesday strongly condemned recent comments by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on the Jewish people as anti-Semitic, State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
"We urge President Erdogan and other Turkish leaders to refrain from incendiary remarks, which could incite further violence," Price said in a statement.
"Anti-Semitic language has no place anywhere," he said.
India calls for end to violence in Israel, Gaza
India has strongly condemned all acts of violence and provocation in the Gaza conflict and called for immediate de-escalation while urging Israel and Palestinian authorities to immediately resume dialogue to find a lasting solution.
T S Tirumurti, India's ambassador to the UN, outlined the country's position during an open debate at the UN Security Council early on Monday, saying both sides should show extreme restraint and desist from actions that exacerbate tensions.
UN chief appeals for humanitarian funding for Gaza
Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, called on the international community to ensure adequate funding for the global body's humanitarian operations in Gaza.
"We are seeing immense human suffering and extensive damage to homes and vital infrastructure in Gaza," he said in a tweet.
Earlier, the UN's humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock called on Israel to provide "unimpeded humanitarian access" to Gaza.
"The crossings with Gaza need to be opened and to remain as such for the entrance of essential and humanitarian supplies, including fuel for basic services and supplies to curb the spread of COVID-19," he said in a statement.
US deems UN Mideast action unhelpful, France pushes UN resolution
France called on Tuesday for a UN Security Council resolution on violence between Israel and Palestinian militants, as diplomats said the United States told the body a "public pronouncement right now" would not help calm the crisis.
The 15-member Security Council held its third private meeting in a week on the worst violence between Israel and the Palestinians in years. The council also met publicly on Sunday, but has been unable to agree a press statement, which needs consensus support, due to the objection of the United States.
"We have not been silent and neither have you," Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council on Tuesday, according to a UN diplomat familiar with her remarks.
Biden sticks to Israel-Gaza playbook, irking progressives and allies
With his muted response to the Gaza conflict, President Joe Biden is largely sticking to a time-worn US playbook despite pressure from progressive Democrats for a tougher line toward Israel and from America's allies for a more active role to end the violence.
By citing Israel's right to defend itself against a rocket barrage from the Hamas-ruled enclave and only nudging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toward a ceasefire, Biden has effectively given Israeli forces more time to press their offensive against Palestinian militants there.
Ceasefire still elusive in Israel-Gaza conflict
Israel bombarded Gaza with air strikes and Palestinian militants kept up cross-border rocket fire, with no firm sign on Wednesday of any imminent ceasefire despite international calls to end more than a week of fighting.
Israeli leaders said they were pressing on with an offensive against Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but an Israeli military spokesman acknowledged that with an estimated 12,000 missiles and mortars in the groups' Gaza arsenal, "they still have enough rockets to fire".
Netanyahu says militants 'set back by years'
Israel's nine-day attack on Gaza has "pushed Hamas back several years," according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu said that Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group in charge of Gaza, had been dealt "unexpected blows" and that operations will "continue for as long as it takes to restore calm" to all Israeli people, reports BBC.
In Michigan, Arab Americans courted by Biden angered by his Gaza policy
When Joe Biden returned on Tuesday to one of the battleground states that handed him the presidential election, he was met with rage over how his administration has handled the sudden escalation of violence in the Middle East.
Biden, on a visit to a Ford Motor Co (F.N) facility in Dearborn, Michigan, to promote electric vehicles, faced protest over his administration's approach to Israel as it attacks Gaza in response to rockets launched by Palestinian militants there eight days ago.
At a rally in Dearborn, the heart of Michigan's Arab-American community, over 1,000 people gathered a few miles away from Biden's event and booed at mentions of the Democratic president's name.
Pro-Palestine rallies in New York, Boston
Hundreds of protesters gathered across the street from the Israeli Consulate in the US city of New York, denouncing Israel's continuing bombardment of Gaza.
Rallies in support of Palestine were also held in Boston and Los Angeles.
Gaza violence pushing region 'in wrong direction': Saudi FM
Continuing violence in the Gaza Strip is pushing the whole region "in the wrong direction", Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said on Tuesday, calling for an end to the armed conflict.
"This all pushes us absolutely in the wrong direction. It means that we are making a path toward a sustainable peace more difficult," bin Farhan told AFP.
US Muslim advocacy group urges Biden to cancel $735m weapons sale to Israel
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is urging US President Joe Biden to halt a planned $735m weapons sale to Israel.
The sale, CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad said on Tuesday, includes "the same type of missiles that have been used to kill more than 200 people in Gaza".
