Israel’s airstrikes in Gaza City destroyed three buildings and killed at least 33 people on Sunday, the deadliest bombardment since heavy fighting broke out between Israel and militant Hamas rulers nearly a week ago.
“Can you hear me? Are they okay? ”Shouted a lifeguard through a hole in the rubble. Minutes later, rescuers managed to remove a survivor and took him away on an orange stretcher.
The Gaza Health Ministry said 12 women and eight children were among the dead, and another 50 people were injured in the attack.
Shortly before, the Israeli military said it destroyed the home of Gaza’s top Hamas leader Yahiyeh Sinwar in a separate attack in the southern city of Khan Younis. It was the third such attack in the past two days against the homes of top Hamas leaders.
Israel appears to have stepped up shelling in recent days to inflict as much damage on Hamas as possible as international mediators try to negotiate a ceasefire. But targeting group leaders could hamper those efforts. A US diplomat is in the region to try to de-escalate tensions and the UN Security Council will meet on Sunday.
Palestinian insurgents have fired some 1,800 projectiles and Israel launched more than 600 airstrikes that brought down at least three apartment blocks.
Why did the outbreak of violence begin?
The latest outbreak of violence began in eastern Jerusalem last month, when Palestinians protested and clashed with Israeli police over their strict actions during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, and the threat of eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by part of Jewish settlers.
A focal point of the fighting was the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a site revered by both Muslims and Jews. Hamas fired rockets into Jerusalem last Monday, prompting the Israeli assault on Gaza.
The instability has spread elsewhere, with protests in the occupied West Bank and violence within Israel among its Arab and Jewish citizens. There have been altercations and attacks by civilians against people and property.
At least 181 Palestinians have died in Gaza, including 52 children and 31 women, with 1,225 injured. Eight Israelis have died, including a five-year-old boy and a soldier.
Israeli forces have targeted some areas with gunfire from tanks stationed near the Gaza border. The armed conflict has been going on for five days and more than 100 dead.
Attacks are aimed at the leaders of Hammas
The Army earlier reported another attack on the home of Yehiyeh Sinwar, the highest ranking Hamas leader in the territory, and his brother Muhammad, another prominent member of the group. Israel bombed the home of Khalil al Hayeh, a key member of Hamas’ political wing, on Saturday.
Army spokesman Brigadier General Hidai Zilberman confirmed on military radio the attack on Sinwar’s home in the town of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The spokesperson said that the house of Sinwar’s brother, Hamas’ head of “logistics and personnel”, had also been destroyed.
The Hamas leadership in Gaza has taken refuge in an unknown location and it is unlikely that any of them were at home at the time of the attacks. Hamas leader Ismail Haniye splits his time between Turkey and Qatar, two states that offer political support to the group.
Hamas and the armed group Islamic Jihad have acknowledged the deaths of 20 fighters since the attacks began on Monday, while Israel says the number is much higher and has released the names and photos of two dozen alleged agents it claims to have “eliminated ”.
So far, 26 Palestinians and two people in Israel have been killed in one of the worst escalations since 2019, following the intense rocket fire at Israel by the terrorist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and at least 140 retaliatory bombings on targets. from Gaza by the Israeli army.
An Egyptian diplomat said that the Israeli strategy of attacking Hamas political leaders would complicate efforts to seek a ceasefire. The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity to comment on confidential negotiations, said Cairo is working to stop hostilities. The United States sent a diplomat to the region and the United Nations Security Council was scheduled to meet on Sunday.
Destroying Hamas’ ability to launch rockets would require a ground invasion that “would set the entire region ablaze,” the Egyptian diplomat said. Egypt, which made peace with Israel decades ago, has threatened to “suspend” cooperation in various fields, the official said, without going into details.
Hamas and other armed groups have fired some 2,900 rockets at Israel since last Monday. Of those shells, 450 fell short or were intercepted, according to the Israeli military, although the rockets have reached large cities and caused panic.
A targeted airstrike destroyed the 12-story building on Saturday.
The interception rate appeared to have dropped significantly since the beginning of the fighting, when Israel reported that 90% had been neutralized. The army did not initially respond to a request for comment.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on the impoverished and confined territory, and has toppled several tall buildings, such as the one that housed The Associated Press offices in Gaza.
Israeli planes struck several buildings and roads in a vital area of Gaza City on Sunday morning. Images shared by journalists and neighbors showed that the bombing left a crater that cut off one of the main roads to Shifa Hospital, the largest medical center in the territory.
Israel claimed that the building served as part of the group’s “terror infrastructure”. There were no immediate reports on the status of Al Hayeh or victims of the attack.
“The campaign will continue as long as necessary,” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address on Saturday. He claimed that Hamas military intelligence personnel were operating in the building.
Israel often cites the presence of Hamas as a reason to bomb some places, such as residential buildings. The army has also accused the armed group of using journalists as human shields, but presented no evidence to back up its claims.
The AP has worked from that building for 15 years, during which there were three previous wars between Israel and Hamas. In both those conflicts and the current one, the agency’s cameras located in its top-floor office and terrace offered 24-hour live footage showing how militant rockets took off towards Israel and Israeli airstrikes hit the city. city and its surroundings.
“We have no indication that Hamas was in the building or operating in the building,” AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt said in a statement. “This is something that we expressly check as best we can. We would never deliberately endanger our journalists. ”