Israel: "War Bulletin"

   

Hostilities between Israel and Hamas have increased in recent days with at least 35 dead in Gaza and five in Israel.

Israel carried out hundreds of air strikes in Gaza, while the Islamist group and other Palestinian militants fired multiple volleys of rockets into Tel Aviv and Beersheba.

A multi-story residential building in Gaza collapsed and another was badly damaged after being repeatedly hit by Israeli airstrikes.

Israel reported that its jets had targeted and killed many Hamas intelligence leaders while other bombings hit rocket launch sites, offices and homes of Hamas leaders.

It was the heaviest offensive between Israel and Hamas since the 2014 Gaza war, sparking international concern that the situation could spiral out of control by the hour.

The United Nations peace envoy to the Middle East Tor Wennesland tweeted: “Turn off the heat immediately. We are heading for a full-scale war. Leaders from all sides must take responsibility for reducing escalation. The cost of the war in Gaza is devastating and is being paid for by ordinary people. The UN is working with all parties to restore calm. Stop the violence now ”.

The homes of Gazans shook as the sky brightened with Israeli air strikes, Hamas missiles and Israeli air defense strikes.

The Israelis, taken by surprise, sought shelter by throwing themselves on the pavements in communities along the coast in southern Israel.

In the Arab-Jewish city of Lod, near Tel Aviv, two people died after a rocket hit a vehicle in the area.

The Hamas armed wing said it had fired 210 rockets towards Beersheba and Tel Aviv in response to the bombing of Gaza City towers. The Israeli military says about a third of Hamas rockets did not hit targets when they fell in Gaza.

The violence followed after weeks of tension in Jerusalem during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, with clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in and around the Al-Aqsa Mosque, overall revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as Noble Sanctuary.

These clashes have intensified in recent days ahead of a hearing - now postponed - in a case that could end with Palestinian families evicted from East Jerusalem homes claimed by Jewish settlers.

Violence also erupted in the occupied West Bank, where a 26-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli gunfire during clashes in a refugee camp near the city of Hebron.

There didn't seem to be an imminent end to the violence. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Palestinian militants would pay a "very high" price for the rockets, which have reached the outskirts of Jerusalem.

The outbreak of hostilities led Netanyahu's political opponents to suspend negotiations on the formation of a coalition of right, left and center-left parties after the election on 23 March.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid still has three weeks to set up a government, with a new election - and another chance for Netanyahu to stay in power.

Hamas called its missile attack the "Sword of Jerusalem", seeking to marginalize Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and present itself as the guardians of the Palestinians in Jerusalem.

The leader of the militant group, Ismail Haniyeh, said Israel has "The fire started in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa and the flames spread to Gaza, so he is responsible for the consequences."

Haniyeh said Qatar, Egypt and the United Nations are active to bring calm, but Hamas's message to Israel is: "If they want to step up, the resistance is ready, if they want to stop, the resistance is ready."

The White House said Israel has a legitimate right to defend itself from missile attacks, but has lobbied Israel to seek peace with the Palestinians, saying Jerusalem must be a place of common coexistence.

The United States was delaying efforts by the UN Security Council to issue a public statement on escalating tensions. It would be working behind the scenes to end the violence. Meanwhile, the State Department spokesperson Ned price he urged for calm and "moderation on both sides ", saying: "The loss of life, the loss of Israeli life, the loss of Palestinian life, is something we deeply regret."

Israel told the media that it sent 80 jets to bomb Gaza and sent infantry to the border, evoking memories of the last Israeli land raid on Gaza to stop missile attacks in 2014.

On that occasion, more than 2.100 Gazans died along with 73 Israelis, while thousands of homes in Gaza were razed by the Israeli military.

Video footage on Tuesday showed three plumes of thick black smoke rising from a 13-story residential building in Gaza that collapsed inexorably.

The Israeli military said the building, in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City, housed offices for Hamas, including those for military research and development and military intelligence.

The existence of a Hamas office, used by political leaders and media officials, was widely known locally.

Residents in the block and the surrounding area were warned in time by evacuating the area before the air strike.

A second residential and office building in the same neighborhood was badly damaged in the Israeli attacks just before 2am Wednesday. Residents and reporters working in the building had already left.

Israeli political leaders and the military said they killed "dozens" of militants and hit buildings used by Hamas.

Category: EVIDENCE 1, MONDO
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