Israeli army bombs police headquarters and security buildings in Gaza as authorities say 35 Palestinians killed, including 12 children, since escalation began.
A night of heavy bombardment on the Gaza Strip has continued into Wednesday morning as Israeli forces launched intensive raids on various locations across the besieged coastal territory.
Local sources said Israeli fighter jets bombed sites belonging to Palestinian armed groups, in addition to security and police buildings. In Gaza City’s Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood, a man, his pregnant wife and their five-year-old boy were killed by an Israeli attack on their home.
Gaza’s ministry of health said the overall death toll since the latest offensive began stood at 35, including 12 children. At least 233 others have been wounded.
Five Israelis have also been killed. The Israeli army said that about 1,500 rockets have been fired from Gaza towards various locations in Israel and they have added reinforcements near the enclave’s eastern lands.
Here are the latest updates:
Is the Palestinian Authority being sidelined?
The Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) executive committee are set to meet on Wednesday night in Ramallah to discuss the Israeli escalation in the Gaza Strip.
“We’ve spoken to a PLO executive committee member who told us that the language the international community has been using is not strong enough to curb the Israeli violations,” Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim said, speaking from Ramallah.
Ibrahim said that for many Palestinians, the usual track the PA resorts to in times of escalation of appealing to the international community to condemn Israel is not enough.
“There’s a growing feeling among Palestinians that Israel only understands the language of force, which is why we’ve seen in the protests in the occupied West Bank in the past few days people calling on Gaza [armed groups] to respond,” she said.
Hamas leader says group ‘ready’ for Israeli escalation
Hamas head Ismail Haniya said he had told mediators the problem is not with Gaza but with Israel, adding that the group Hamas is “ready” if Israel increases its attacks.
“If (Israel) wants to escalate, we are ready for it, and if it wants to stop, we’re also ready,” Haniya, who currently lives outside the Strip, said in a televised address.
This happened in front of my house #GazaUnderAttack pic.twitter.com/BsUgoq0Yrx
— Farah Baker (@Farah_Gazan) May 12, 2021
Haniya went on to say that linking Jerusalem with the Gaza Strip is reflective of equating “resistance with identity” and hailed the protests that have broken out among Palestinians within Israel and the occupied territories.
“We are all moving together in a coherent manner in order to confront the occupation,” he said.
Haniya renewed the call for all “our Palestinian people to unite the ranks” and called on the Palestinian Authority to “stop security cooperation” with Israel.
Two Palestinians killed in occupied West Bank
A Palestinian teenager has been shot dead by Israeli forces during a raid on Aqaba village, east of the occupied West Bank town of Tubas.
Rashid Abu Ara, 16, was killed after Israeli forces raided the village to arrest another Palestinian, Sheikh Mustafa Abu Ara.
Medical sources also said that Hussein al-Titi, 26, was shot dead during protests against the Israeli army in al-Fawwar refugee camp, south of Hebron.
استشهاد الشاب حسين عطية الطيطي 26 عاماً من مخيم الفوار جنوب الخليل، خلال مواجهات مع الاحتلال شهدها المخيم قبل قليل. pic.twitter.com/qZctxWAA1G
— shatha hammad | شذى حماد (@shathahammad4) May 12, 2021
Translation: Hussein Atiya al-Titi, 26 years old, was killed in Fuwwar refugee camp south of Hebron during confrontations with Israeli forces.
For updates from Tuesday, May 11, please click here.
Source
:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
