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. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Earlier, Israeli forces shot dead four other Palestinians and wounded scores more during protests and a historic general strike in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
At least 219 Palestinians, including 63 children, have been killed in Gaza since the latest violence flared on May 10. About 1,500 Palestinians have been wounded.
Twelve people in Israel have died, including two children, while at least 300 Israelis have been wounded.
Despite the escalating violence – now in its tenth day – diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers have failed to make much headway.
The United States continued to block the UN Security Council from issuing a joint statement urging an end to the hostilities, telling diplomats that a public statement would not help calm the tensions.
France, however, says it is working with Israel’s neighbours, Egypt and Jordan, on a new ceasefire resolution. China said it was “supportive” of the French proposal.
Here are the latest updates:
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.
Translation: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding a briefing with more than 70 foreign ambassadors and diplomatic representatives in Tel Aviv, together with Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi.
The briefing is attended by diplomats, including from the US, the EU, Russia, China, India, Germany, Austria, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Canada and Italy.
YouTube adds age restriction to Al Jazeera Arabic live stream
YouTube has added an age restriction to Al Jazeera Arabic’s live stream amid the channel’s ongoing coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A message appeared on Al Jazeera Arabic’s YouTube page, indicating the channel’s content may be inappropriate and that viewing the live stream requires verification of the user’s age.
Read the full story here.
Funerals in the occupied West Bank underway
The bodies of Islam Wael Bernat, 15, and Adham al-Kashef, 20, have been carried to their final resting place in the occupied West Bank city of al-Bireh.
The two were among four Palestinians killed by Israeli forces while participating in a protest on Tuesday as part of a general strike across the occupied Palestinian territories.
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.
58 Palestinians arrested in Israel
At least 58 Palestinian citizens of Israel were detained overnight, according to the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (ADALAH).
Turkey rejects US claims of Erdogan’s anti-Semitism
Turkey rejected accusations by the United States that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made “anti-Semitic” remarks in his criticism of Israeli strikes in Gaza, his party’s spokesman said.
“Accusing our president of anti-Semitism is an illogical and untrue approach. This is a lie said about our president,” Omer Celik tweeted.
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 the seven destroyed overnight, said a warning missile struck the building five minutes before its bombardment.
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 Beit Hanoon (Erez in Hebrew) and Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom in Hebrew) 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 jets 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.
UN chief appeals for humanitarian funding for Gaza
Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the UN, 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.
Pro-Palestine rallies in New York, Boston, Los Angeles
Hundreds of protesters gathered across the street from the Israeli consulate in the US city of New York, denouncing Israel’s continuing attacks on Gaza.
Rallies in support of Palestine were also held in Boston and Los Angeles.
For all the developments from Tuesday, May 18, go here.
