Israeli Air Force planes pound positions in the Gaza Strip and Hamas fighters fire rockets at Israel as hostilities continue for a sixth day, with US and Arab diplomats seeking the removal of diplomats.
Palestinian casualties say at least two people have been killed in one of several Israeli airstrikes. According to residents, Israeli Navy boats opened fire with their cannons, although it is not clear if they hit the Palestinian enclave.
The Palestinian Ministry of Religious Affairs said Israeli planes had destroyed a mosque. An Israeli military spokesman said information about the incident was still being investigated.
Air defense sirens sounded in at least two major urban centers in southern Israel. Hamas has claimed responsibility for new rocket launches.
With no sign on the horizon that hostilities will end soon, casualties are rising elsewhere, with Palestinian sources citing 11 deaths yesterday in the occupied West Bank, where clashes broke out between protesters and Israeli security forces.
At least 128 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Monday, including 31 children – UNICEF says 34 – and 20 women, while at least 950 others have been injured, according to Palestinian health officials.
Among the eight dead on the Israeli side is a soldier who was killed by an anti-tank missile on the border with the enclave and six civilians, including two children, according to Israeli authorities.
Ahead of a UN Security Council meeting tomorrow afternoon (Greek time) to discuss the situation, the government of US President Joe Biden sent yesterday Hady Amr, Assistant Secretary of State for Israel and Palestinian Affairs, to .
The US embassy in Israel explained that the purpose of the Lebanese-American diplomat’s mission was to make an effort to restore “lasting calm” in the region.
Israel is targeting underground galleries, rocket launchers and weapons manufacturing or storage facilities to stop rocket attacks.
In central and southern Israel, from small communities around the Gaza Strip to the metropolis of Tel Aviv and Beer Sheva, citizens are learning to live with air sirens, radio and television networks interrupting the normal flow of their cell phone warnings to rush to shelters.
Clashes between the Israeli army and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip have sparked unrest in mixed-Israeli and Arab cities in Israel. Synagogues have been attacked and clashes have broken out in the streets, often involving Israeli far-right groups. President Reuven Rivlin has warned of the danger of civil war.
Egypt continues its efforts to reach a ceasefire. “Mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations are stepping up their contacts with all parties to restore calm but no agreement has been reached yet,” a Palestinian official said.
Sources: AMPE, Reuters
