Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Friday to crush Hamas with unrelenting bombardments as the death toll in Gaza rose to over 120, including 31 children and 20 women, with 900 people wounded.
The leader’s fiery comments came amid growing fears of a Lebanese incursion into Israel, with residents in the country’s northern region told to stay inside their homes, and as many Palestinians fled their Gaza homes after over 1,000 bombs were dropped overnight on Thursday, continuing into Friday.
‘They attacked our capital, they fired rockets at our cities. They’re paying and will continue to pay dearly for that,’ Netanyahu said during a video address on Friday. ‘It’s not over yet,’ he warned.
‘I said we would exact a very heavy price from Hamas and other terror groups, and we are doing so and will continue to do so with great force,’ the Prime Minister said, before detailing Israel’s destruction of Hamas tunnels.
‘Hamas thought it could hide there, but it cannot,’ he said. ‘Hamas leaders think they can escape from our grasp. They cannot escape. We can reach them everywhere – all of [Hamas’s] people and we will continue to do so.’
In the north of Israel, multiple pro-Palestinian protesters approached the border from Lebanon on Friday afternoon, and for a second time later on Friday evening, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Some of the group of around 20 protesters carrying Palestinian, Lebanese, and Hezbollah flags are believed to have cut a hole in the border fence and crossed into Israel, with one reportedly being shot in the leg by Israeli Defence Force (IDF) troops, who also fired two shells from a tank in the direction of the demonstration.
The injured man, identified as a 21-year-old fighter for the Lebanese Hezbollah group named Muhammed Tahan, later died from his wounds after being dragged back across the border into Lebanon.
Residents of Metulla in Israel’s northern district were ordered to stay inside, but the order was reversed after a short period of time when officials were assured that the situation was under control.
Israeli border guards detain a Palestinian youth in Jerusalem on May 14, 2021, during clashes between Israeli far-right extremists and Palestinian
Palestinian protesters set up barricades during clashes with Israeli forces in the Shuafat camp for Palestinian refugees, neighbouring the Israeli settlement of Ramat Shlomo, in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on May 14, 2021
An Israeli rocket falls over buildings linked to the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza City, amid the escalating flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence, May 14, 2021
Smoke rises after airstrikes over Ansar Government Complex building, carried out by Israeli army, on the second day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Gaza City, Gaza on May 14, 2021
A Palestinian man carries the corpse of a toddler, killed in a reported Israeli air strike, before his burial in Beit Lahya in the northern Gaza Strip, on May 14, 2021
Relatives of three children from the Al-Tanani family, killed in a reported Israeli air strike, mourn at the family residence before their burial in Beit Lahya in northern Gaza strip, on May 14, 2021
Palestinian mourners carry the body of Nidal Safadi, who was killed in clashes with Israeli forces, during his funeral in the West Bank village of Urif, near Nablus, Friday, May 14, 2021
Meanwhile, Israeli military says it has identified three rockets fired from Syria toward Israeli territory on Friday.
The military said in a statement that one of the rockets landed inside Syria in the evening hours. There was no immediate comment from Damascus.
In Gaza, the toll from the fighting rose to 122 killed, including 31 children and 20 women, with 900 wounded, according to the Health Ministry.
The Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups have confirmed 20 deaths in their ranks, though Israel says that number is much higher. Seven people have been killed in Israel, including a 6-year-old boy and a soldier.
Thousands of Palestinians grabbed children and belongings and fled their homes on Friday as Israel barraged the northern Gaza Strip with tank fire and airstrikes, killing a family of six in their house and heavily damaging other neighborhoods in what it said was an operation to clear the militant tunnels.
As international efforts at a cease-fire stepped up, Israel appeared to be looking to inflict intensified damage on Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel.
The Gaza violence increasingly spilled over into turmoil elsewhere.
Across the West Bank, Palestinians held their most widespread protests since 2017, with hundreds in at least nine towns burning tires and throwing stones at Israeli troops. Soldiers opening fire killed six, according to Palestinian health officials, while a seventh Palestinian was killed as he tried to stab an Israeli soldier.
Within Israel, communal violence erupted for a fourth night. Jewish and Arab mobs clashed in the flashpoint town of Lod, even after additional security forces were deployed.
Israeli police said that nine people were injured during violent unrest surrounding the arrest of a senior Islamist leader in northern Israel – a higher toll than media reports had earlier.
A Palestinian woman shouts in the street as those living in Gaza assess the damage after a night of IDF bombardment
Smoke rises after airstrikes over Ansar Government Complex building, carried out by Israeli army, on the second day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Gaza City, Gaza on May 14, 2021
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured) vowed on Friday to crush Hamas with unrelenting bombardments as the death toll in Gaza rose to over 120, including 31 children and 20 women, with 900 people wounded
In the north of Israel, multiple pro-Palestinian protesters approached the border from Lebanon on Friday afternoon, and for a second time later on Friday evening, according to the Jerusalem Post. Pictured: People stand together in the southern Lebanese village of Khiam, near the border with Israel, Lebanon May 14, 2021
Israeli soldiers stand guard after firing flares above the northern town of Metula, by the border with Lebanon, following a pro-Palestinian protest across the border in the Lebanese Khiam area, on May 14, 2021
Israeli troops are pictured at their position in southern Israel along the border with the Gaza Strip from on May 14, 2021
A Palestinian throws a rock at a burning tram station during clashes with Israeli forces in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Shuafat, neighbouring the Israeli settlement of Ramat Shlomo, in Israeli annexed east Jerusalem on May 14, 2021
Israeli forces intervene in Palestinians gathered in the town of Issawiya, on May 14, 2021, in the East Jerusalem
Israel called up 9,000 reservists Thursday to join its troops massed at the Gaza border, and an army spokesman spoke of a possible ground assault into the densely populated territory, though he gave no timetable. A day later, there was no sign of an incursion.
But before dawn Friday, tanks deployed on the border and warplanes carried out an intense barrage on the northern end of the Gaza Strip.
Houda Ouda said she and her extended family ran frantically into their home in the town of Beit Hanoun, seeking safety as the earth shook for two and half hours in the darkness.
‘We even did not dare to look from the window to know what is being hit,’ she said. When daylight came, she saw the swath of destruction: streets cratered, buildings crushed or with facades blown off, an olive tree burned bare, dust covering everything.
Rafat Tanani, his pregnant wife and four children, aged 7 and under, were killed after an Israeli warplane reduced their four-story apartment building to rubble in the neighboring town of Beit Lahia, residents said. Four strikes hit the building at 11 p.m., just before the family went to sleep, Rafat’s brother Fadi said. The building’s owner and his wife also were killed.
‘It was a massacre,’ said Sadallah Tanani, another relative. ‘My feelings are indescribable.’
Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman, said the operation involved tank fire and airstrikes, aimed at destroying a tunnel network beneath Gaza City that the military refers to as ‘the Metro,’ used by militants to evade surveillance and airstrikes.
‘As always, the aim is to strike military targets and to minimize collateral damage and civilian casualties,’ he said. ‘Unlike our very elaborate efforts to clear civilian areas before we strike high-rise or large buildings inside Gaza, that wasn’t feasible this time.’
A Palestinian man injured after Israeli forces’ intervention in Palestinian demonstrators is carried by others. Police used rubber bullets and tear gas during a protest against Israeli forces’ attacks over East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, on May 14, 2021
Israeli forces intervene in demonstrators during a protest in front of Nablus city’s Havara check-point, against Israeli forces’ attacks over East Jerusalem and Gaza, on May 14, 2021, in Nablus, West Bank
Palestinians carry the national flag during clashes with Israeli forces near the Hawara checkpoint south of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on May 14, 2021
A protester waves the Palestinian flag during clashes with the Israeli forces at the Hawara checkpoint, south of the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, May 14, 2021
Palestinian demonstrators take cover during clashes with Israeli forces at the Hawara checkpoint, south of the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, May 14, 2021. Health officials say several Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire, at protests that took place in several locations across the West Bank of Friday
Hezbollah supporters wave their group, Iranian and Palestinian flags, during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians amid an escalating Israeli military campaign in Gaza, on the Lebanese-Israeli border in front of the Israeli settlement of Metula, background, near the southern village of Kafr Kila, Lebanon, Friday, May 14, 2021
Palestinians gather during a protest against Israeli forces’ attacks over Jerusalem and Gaza, on May 14, 2021 in Bethlehem, West Bank
Palestinians stage a demonstration at the Haram al-Sharif, in support of the Gaza Strip, following the Friday prayer in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in Jerusalem on May 14, 2021
A Palestinian protester lights a molotov cocktail during clashes with Israeli forces in the Shuafat camp for Palestinian refugees, neighbouring the Israeli settlement of Ramat Shlomo, in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on May 14, 2021
Last night, the Israel Defence Forces managed to trick Hamas into believing a ground invasion was underway and then obliterated their tunnel network knowing militants would be hiding underground waiting to ambush tanks and soldiers, reports in Israel claim.
There was confusion when the IDF said shortly after midnight that ground forces were ‘attacking in Gaza’, and later suggested that boots were on the ground. A spokesman later retracted that statement – saying that military operations were conducted along the border, but no Israeli troops had crossed it.
However, the announcement was apparently a well-planned ploy to get Hamas to send its fighters into its underground tunnel system beneath Gaza City, before bombarding the area, in the hope of eliminating large numbers of militants in one fell swoop.
Soldiers and tanks with drones equipped with night vision lay in wait for survivors as they surfaced, hitting them with aerial and ground fire. Snipers and missile units were also waiting for them on the ground as the IDF said it had carried out a ‘complex’ operation to destroy Hamas tunnels underneath Gaza City, which the military refers to as ‘the Metro’.
Neither Israel nor Hamas has yet announced how much of the network was destroyed overnight, but initial estimates said a large number of fighters were buried as the IDF collapsed the tunnel system on their heads, Israel National News reported.
In response, Hamas fired 220 rockets from Gaza at cities in Israel overnight, the IDF said, and was joined by three rockets fired from Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon – though all of them fell short.
Attacks continued this morning, with Israeli jets striking what the IDF called underground rocket sites in Gaza City and Hamas watchtowers. Meanwhile sirens sounded on the Israeli side of the border as Hamas attacked with suicide drones, while several Israeli troops were injured in a knife attack near the West Bank city of Ofra.
Elsewhere, more street clashes took place overnight in the mixed Israeli-Arab city of Lod, with a synagogue burned to the ground. A 19-year-old IDF solider was also badly beaten in the Tel Aviv suburb of Jaffa and a Jewish family were attacked inside their car in Umm al-Fahm.
Far-right Jewish groups were also calling for attacks on Arabs and their businesses in the cities of Be’er Sheva and Ramle, according to Israeli news site Ynet.
Despite the rapidly escalating violence and amid calls for urgent deescalation from world leaders, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed today that there would be no let-up in attacks.
‘I said we would extract a very heavy price from Hamas. We are doing that, and we will continue to do that with heavy force,’ he said.
A Palestinian man carries the corpse of a toddler, killed in what was believed to have been an Israeli air strike, before his burial in Beit Lahya in the northern Gaza Strip
A Palestinian relative mourns over the bodies of four young brothers from the Al-tanani family who were found under the rubble of a destroyed house following Israeli airstrikes
A Palestinian woman breaks down as she looks at the bodies of four brothers killed during a night of heavy Israeli bombing
Palestinian relatives mourn over the bodies of four brothers from the Al-tanani family who were found under the rubble of a destroyed house following Israeli airstrikes in Beit Lahiya
Palestinians gather at the site of destroyed houses in the aftermath of Israeli air and artillery strikes as cross-border violence between the Israeli military and Palestinian militants
Damage to buildings in the north of the Gaza Strip is seen on Friday morning after a heavy night of bombing from Israel
A Palestinian man looks up through the roof of a destroyed building in Gaza following a night of heavy shelling
Palestinians work at the site of destroyed houses in the aftermath of Israeli air and artillery strikes as cross-border violence between the Israeli military and Palestinian militants continues
Palestinian women walk at the site of destroyed houses in the aftermath of Israeli air and artillery strikes
Palestinians inspect their destroyed houses following overnight Israeli airstrikes in town of Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip
Palestinians inspect their destroyed houses following overnight Israeli airstrikes in town of Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip
A Palestinian boy sits on debris at the site of destroyed houses in the aftermath of Israeli air and artillery strikes as cross-border violence between the Israeli military and Palestinian militants continues
Palestinians inspect their destroyed houses following overnight Israeli airstrikes in town of Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip
The Israeli Defence Forces said that 160 aircraft flying simultaneously conducted a 40-minute attack on a network of tunnels dug by the Hamas, with 450 missiles dropped on 150 targets in northern Gaza.
After the air strikes were launched, some 500 artillery shells — some flares and some explosive — along with 50 tank shells were fired in a follow-up attack.
More airstrikes took place this morning, with the IDF saying it is targeting underground rocket launchers and Hamas observation posts.
The IDF also said 220 rockets were fired by Hamas in response to the overnight attacks, with targets including the cities of Ashdod, Ashkelon, Beersheba and Yavne.
Two women, aged 50 and 80, died overnight from injuries sustained while trying to take shelter from rockets, Israeli media reported. A 60-year-old man was also seriously hurt after a rocket struck Ashkelon.
Rocket sirens continued to sound in Ashkelon and other cities near the Gaza strip this morning, with the IDF saying more than 2,000 rockets have now been fired in less than five days.
Three rockets were also fired from southern Lebanon towards northern Israel, Israeli security forces said, but were not heading towards populated areas and fell short into the Mediterranean off Israel’s north coast.
Hezbollah, a militant group allied with Hamas, denied being responsible for the attack – saying instead that it was carried out by a rogue pro-Palestinian group as a show of solidarity.
Fears of an all-out war escalated in the early hours of Friday morning as the military said just after midnight that air and ground forces were ‘attacking’ the Hamas-run enclave. Rocket barrages from Gaza swiftly followed.
IDF spokesmen then appeared to confirm to multiple journalists that boots were on the ground in Gaza, before an urgent clarification was issued saying that no troops had crossed the border and apologising for the earlier mistake which was blamed on ‘internal communication issues’.
Residents in northern Gaza, near the Israeli frontier, said they had seen no sign of Israeli ground forces inside the enclave but reported heavy artillery fire and dozens of air strikes.
Hamas military spokesman Abu Obeida said the group was not afraid of a ground invasion, saying the move would be a chance ‘to increase our catch’ of dead or captive soldiers.
Attempts to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis have so far floundered, with Israel refusing calls for a ceasefire put forward by an Egyptian delegation which had travelled to the country to try and negotiate. The delegation has now returned to Cairo, Russian news agency TASS reported today.
French President Emmanuel Macron, tweeting in French, English, Hebrew and Arabic, joined calls for calm, saying the ‘spiral of violence must stop’.
Meanwhile Germany’s Angela Merkel struck a different tone, describing rocket attacks from Gaza as ‘terrorism’ and saying her government supports ‘Israel’s right to self-defence against these attacks’.
Mr Merkel also hit out at protesters who she said had burned Israeli flags outside synagogues, adding: ‘Anyone who attacks a synagogue or defiles Jewish symbols shows that for them it is not about criticizing a state or the policies of a government, but about aggression and hate towards a religion and the people who belong to it.’
The United Nations Security Council has confirmed that it will convene to discuss the rapidly worsening situation, but will not meet until Sunday.
Palestinians living outside Gaza City, near the northern and eastern frontiers with Israel, fled the intense artillery bombardment Friday.
Families arrived at the U.N.-run schools in the city in pick-up trucks, on donkeys and by foot, hauling pillows and pans, blankets and bread.
‘We were planning to leave our homes at night, but Israeli jets bombarded us so we had to wait until the morning,’ said Hedaia Maarouf, who fled with her extended family of 19 people, including 13 children.
‘We were terrified for our children, who were screaming and shaking.’
In the northern Gaza Strip, Rafat Tanani, his pregnant wife and four children were killed after an Israeli warplane reduced a building to rubble, residents said.
‘It was a massacre,’ said Sadallah Tanani, a relative. ‘My feelings are indescribable.’
Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said tanks stationed near the border fired 50 rounds.
It was part of a large operation that also involved airstrikes and was aimed at destroying tunnels beneath Gaza City used by militants to evade surveillance and airstrikes, which the military refers to as ‘the Metro.’
Palestinians assess the damage in a building caused by Israeli air strikes, in Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip
Damaged caused to buildings in Gaza City by an IDF bombardment overnight is revealed as the sun comes up
Palestinians assess the damage caused by Israeli air strikes, in Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip
An Israeli man takes a photo with his mobile phone at a residential building after a rocket launched overnight from the Gaza Strip hit it in Ashkelon
Palestinians riding on a pickup truck flee their homes during Israeli air and artillery strikes as cross-border violence between the Israeli military and Palestinian militants continues
Palestinians flee their homes during Israeli air and artillery strikes as cross-border violence between the Israeli military and Palestinian militants continues
A Palestinian boy pulls a cart carrying his brother and their belongings as they flee their home during Israeli airstrikes
Palestinians carry some of their belongings in Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip, as they flee Israeli air and artillery strikes
‘As always, the aim is to strike military targets and to minimize collateral damage and civilian casualties,’ he said.
‘Unlike our very elaborate efforts to clear civilian areas before we strike high-rise or large buildings inside Gaza, that wasn’t feasible this time.’
The strikes came after Egyptian mediators rushed to Israel for cease-fire talks that showed no signs of progress. Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations were leading the truce efforts.
The fighting broke out late Monday when Hamas fired a long-range rocket at Jerusalem in support of Palestinian protests there against the policing of a flashpoint holy site and efforts by Jewish settlers to evict dozens of Palestinian families from their homes.
Since then, Israel has attacked hundreds of targets in Gaza, causing earth-shaking explosions across densely populated areas.
Of the 1,800 rockets Gaza militants have fired, more than 400 fell short or misfired, according to the military.
The rockets have brought life in parts of southern Israel to a standstill, and several barrages have targeted the seaside metropolis of Tel Aviv, some 70 kilometers (45 miles) away from Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue the operation, saying in a video statement that Israel would ‘extract a very heavy price from Hamas.’
In Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden said he spoke with Netanyahu about calming the fighting but also backed the Israeli leader by saying ‘there has not been a significant overreaction.’
He said the goal now is to ‘get to a point where there is a significant reduction in attacks, particularly rocket attacks.’ He called the effort ‘a work in progress.’
Israel has come under heavy international criticism for civilian casualties during three previous wars in Gaza, which is home to more than 2 million Palestinians.
It says Hamas is responsible for endangering civilians by placing military infrastructure in civilian areas and launching rockets from them.
Hamas showed no signs of backing down. It fired its most powerful rocket, the Ayyash, nearly 200 kilometers (120 miles) into southern Israel on Thursday.
An explosion lights the sky following an Israeli air strike on Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on May 14 as the violence continues
Fire billows from Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip overnight as the IDF stepped up attacks directed at Hamas
An Israeli artillery unit fires into the Gaza strip during an overnight operation that the IDF said was aimed at destroying Hamas tunnel networks under Gaza City
A building in Gaza City is seen alight in the early hours of Friday morning
The night sky on Friday is lit up as rockets are fired towards Israel from Beit Lahia in the Gaza Strip
Smoke and flames rise after Israeli forces launched ground, sea and air attacks towards Gaza Strip
An image showing Hamas rockets fired from Gaza overnight (right) and blasts as they are intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defence system (left)
Rockets are seen in the night sky fired towards Israel from Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip
Smoke and flames rise after an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip overnight, in an operation that the IDF said was designed to destroy Hamas tunnel networks
Rockets light up the night sky as they are fired towards Israel from Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip
An Israeli 155mm self-propelled howitzer, loaded on a trailer, arrives at a position along the Israel-Gaza border on Thursday
Shells from an Israeli gunboat are pictured landing in the sea off the Gaza strip today as the bombardment continued
An Israeli soldier gets into position during clashes with Palestinian demonstrators near the Jewish settlement of Beit El near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank
Israeli forces fire teargas canister at Palestinian demonstrators as the conflict continues to escalate after a huge aerial bombardment
An Israeli tank is pictured near Gaza as troops mass on the border amid fears over a possible land invasion
Israeli soldiers load a mobile artillery piece with shells as they prepare to fire at targets across the border in Gaza
The crew of an Israeli mobile artillery piece wait for orders as fighting escalates with Hamas on Friday
Israeli artillery crews move shells towards their gun as the bombardment of Gaza continues today
IDF soldiers stationed near the border with Gaza make their way across train tracks on Friday morning
IDF soldiers manning a mobile artillery piece take cover as rocket sirens sound amid continuing attacks on Friday
An Israeli F-16 fighter jet releases a flare as it streaks through the skies above Sderot, with the air force saying it struck more targets in Gaza City today
An Israeli soldier climbs down into an armoured transport vehicle amid a troop build-up along the Gaza border
An Israeli soldier stands atop a tank as troops prepare to fire artillery shells towards the Gaza Strip from their position near the southern Israeli city of Sderot
Israeli army soldiers gather at the border with Gaza in Israel as fighting with Hamas continues on Friday
The rocket landed in the open desert but briefly disrupted flight traffic at the southern Ramon airport. Hamas has also launched two drones that Israel said it quickly shot down.
Hamas military spokesman Abu Obeida said the group was not afraid of a ground invasion, which would be a chance ‘to increase our catch’ of Israeli soldiers.
The current eruption of violence began a month ago in Jerusalem. A focal point of clashes was Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, built on a hilltop compound that is revered by Jews and Muslims.
Israel regards all of Jerusalem as its capital, while the Palestinians want east Jerusalem, which includes sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, to be the capital of their future state.
The violent clashes between Arabs and Jews in Jerusalem and other mixed cities across Israel has meanwhile added a new layer of volatility to the conflict not seen in more than two decades.
The violence continued overnight into Friday. A Jewish man was shot and seriously wounded in Lod, the epicenter of the troubles, and Israeli media said a second Jewish man was shot.
In the Tel Aviv neighborhood of Jaffa, an Israeli soldier was attacked by a group of Arabs and hospitalized in serious condition.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said some 750 suspects have been arrested since the communal violence began earlier this week.
He said police had clashed overnight with individuals in Lod and Tel Aviv who hurled rocks and firebombs at them.
The fighting deepened a political crisis that has sent Israel careening through four inconclusive elections in just two years. After March elections, Netanyahu failed to form a government coalition. Now his political rivals have three weeks to try to do so.
Those efforts have been greatly complicated by the fighting. His opponents include a broad range of parties that have little in common. They would need the support of an Arab party, whose leader has said he cannot negotiate while Israel is fighting in Gaza.
Meanwhile the U.N. Security Council will publicly discuss the worsening violence between Israel and Palestinian militants on Sunday, diplomats said, reaching a compromise over U.S. objections to a meeting on Friday.
Diplomats said the United States, a close ally of Israel, had initially suggested a virtual public meeting could be held on Tuesday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday he hoped waiting a few days would allow for ‘diplomacy to have some effect and to see if indeed we get a real de-escalation,’ adding that Washington was ‘open to and supportive of a discussion, an open discussion, at the United Nations.’
Hostilities entered their fifth day overnight, with no sign of abating. Israel fired artillery and mounted more air strikes against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip amid constant rocket fire deep into Israel’s commercial centre.
The 15-member council has met privately twice this week about the worst hostilities in the region in years, but has so far been unable to agree on a public statement, diplomats said.
Such statements are agreed to by consensus, and the United States did not believe it would be helpful, they said.
All council members also have to agree to a meeting under rules guiding the body’s virtual operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the US State Department has urged citizens to ‘reconsider travel to Israel’ due to the recent surge in violence.
The travel advisory level, which had been lowered in recent weeks due to improvement in the country’s Covid-19 situation, was stepped up to Level 3, out of a maximum of four.
‘Reconsider travel to Israel due to armed conflict and civil unrest,’ the department said in a statement.
‘Rockets continue to impact the Gaza periphery and areas across Southern and Central Israel, including Jerusalem,’ it said. ‘There has been a marked increase in protests and violence throughout Israel.’
Newly-released satellite images capture a fire at an Israeli oil storage facility near Ashkelon on Wednesday after it was struck by rockets fired from inside Gaza
Another image shows the ruins of the Hanadi Tower after it was destroyed by Israeli air strikes targeting what the IDF said were Hamas administrative offices inside Gaza
This newly-released handout satellite image released by Maxar Technologies shows smoke from a burning storage tank in Ashkelon Southern Israel on May 12
This handout satellite image released by Maxar Technologies shows an overview of Southern Israel and Gaza City on May 12
Palestinians throw fireworks against Israeli forces during clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron overnight
Israeli security forces take aim at Arab rioters during a night of unrest in Hebron, the West Bank
Israeli security forces move through the streets of Hebron amid clashes with Arab rioters overnight
Palestinians throw fireworks at Israeli security forces during overnight clashes in Hebron, the West Bank
Palestinian families are pictured in a street after evacuating their homes east of Gaza City on May 13 due to heavy shelling by the Israeli military
Palestinian families are pictured in a street after evacuating their homes east of Gaza City late on Thursday evening amid shelling
Israeli firefighters battle a field fire after a rocket launched from Gaza strip struck last night in Ramla
Rockets are fired towards Israel from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip after Israel pounded Gaza and deployed extra troops to the border
An explosion lights the sky following an Israeli air strike on Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip last night
An Israeli air strike on Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip lights up the sky as the conflict continues to rumble on
Smoke and flames rise after Israeli forces launched ground, sea and air attacks towards Gaza Strip overnight
Rockets fired from Gaza fly towards Israel, as seen from Gaza City, in response to days of violent confrontations between Israeli security forces and Palestinians in Jerusalem
Smoke rises over houses in Ashkelon following a rocket attack launched from Gaza towards Ashkelon, southern Israel
Rockets are seen in the night sky fired towards Israel from Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip in the early hours of Friday
CCTV reveals the moment Israel’s Iron Dome defences destroyed a Hamas rocket during the overnight bombardment
An Israeli firefighter battles a field fire after a rocket launched from Gaza strip struck overnight in Ramla, Israel
An Israeli firefighter walks in the early hours of Friday around a synagogue, after it was set on fire by Arab-Israelis, in the mixed Jewish-Arab city of Lod
China on Friday accused the United States of ‘ignoring the suffering’ of muslims, after Washington blocked a scheduled UN Security Council meeting aimed at addressing an intensifying conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
The US, Israel’s diplomatic shield at the UN, blocked an originally scheduled Friday session despite the deepening bloodshed – but eventually agreed to move it to Sunday, diplomats said.
As the crisis has unfurled, China has taken up the Palestinian cause at the Security Council, a venue where it frequently plays its veto card to block motions against its allies.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters the US had single handedly obstructed the Security Council from speaking out on the crisis, ‘standing on the opposite side of the international community’.
‘What we can feel is that the US keeps saying that it cares about the human rights of Muslims… but it was ignoring the suffering of the Palestinian people,’ Hua added.
She contrasted America’s reluctance at the Security Council with calls by the US, Britain and Germany for China to end repression of its Uyghur Muslim minority – an incendiary issue in US-China relations.
‘The US should realise that the lives of Palestinian Muslims are equally precious,’ she said.
The US, Israel’s key ally, has defended the Jewish state’s deadly offensive, which comes in response to rocket fire from the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip.
But President Joe Biden’s administration has also voiced alarm over civilian casualties and earlier pushed Israel to hold off on evictions of Palestinians in Jerusalem, the immediate trigger for the flare-up.
Hua said Friday that efforts should be made to lower temperatures and prevent the crisis from escalating.
She restated that China will push the Security Council to take action soon, as well as reiterate its firm support for a two-state solution.
Security Council sessions, held by videoconference due to the pandemic, require support of all 15 members.
Palestinian families fleeing from their homes at Al-Shati Refugee Camp, take shelter in a school as Israeli forces continue to pound Gaza Strip
Palestinian families fleeing from their homes at Al-Shati Refugee Camp, take shelter in a school as Israeli forces continue to pound Gaza Strip
Palestinian families fleeing from their homes at Al-Shati Refugee Camp, take shelter in a school as Israeli forces continue to pound Gaza Strip
Palestinian families fleeing from their homes at Al-Shati Refugee Camp, take shelter in a school as Israeli forces continue to pound Gaza Strip
The tunnels of death: Inside Hamas’s underground passages used to move weapons and ambush Israeli forces – who are now obliterating the network with airstrikes
Israel claims to have obliterated much of Hamas’s network of tunnels in the Gaza Strip in a massive bombardment overnight Thursday.
Helicopters, jets, gun boats and artillery pounded northern and eastern parts of Gaza with more than 1,000 bombs and shells as part of a ‘complex’ operation to destroy Hamas tunnels underneath Gaza City.
In an apparent trick, the IDF said shortly after midnight that ground forces were ‘attacking in Gaza’, but a spokesman later retracted that statement, saying no Israeli troops had crossed the border.
However, the announcement was a well-planned ploy to get Hamas to send its fighters into its underground tunnel system beneath Gaza City, before bombarding the area, in the hope of eliminating large numbers of the organisation’s operatives in one foul swoop, reports in Israel claim.
The IDF has long been trying to destroy the network of Hamas tunnels – established after the Islamist organisation took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 – because they reach into Israeli territory and are a launch point for the many of the group’s attacks.
Tunnels were among Hamas’s most effective tools during the 2014 war with Israel, with militants using them to move weapons, enter the Jewish state, ambush IDF soldiers, and at times even return to Gaza through the underground passages.
Israel claims to have obliterated much of Hamas’s network of tunnels in a massive bombardment last night (pictured, Hamas fighters in the underground passages)
Helicopters, jets, gun boats and artillery pounded northern and eastern parts of Gaza with more than 1,000 bombs and shells overnight Thursday as part of a ‘complex’ operation to destroy Hamas tunnels underneath Gaza City
The IDF has long been trying to destroy the network of Hamas tunnels, which reach into Israeli territory and are a launch point for the group’s attacks (pictured an Israeli officer in one of the cross-border tunnels)
The network of tunnels were built after Hamas took power in the Gaza Strip in 2007 and have since been used to launch several attacks on Israel (pictured, Palestinian militants in the tunnels)
The first Hamas tunnels were built in 2007 between the Gaza Strip and Egypt and were designed for smuggling consumer goods to bypass the Israeli blockade.
However, some rudimentary networks existed in Gaza as early as 2002. One was used to bomb an Israeli outpost within the Strip in 2004. A second tunnel bomb attack on an Israeli outpost took place in December 2004, killing five IDF soldiers.
The first cross-border raid by Hamas took place in 2006, when the group kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, holding him captive for more than five years.
By 2013, the network had definitively pivoted away from the Egyptian border and towards Israel and there were at least three tunnels under the Israel-Gaza border, two of which were packed with explosives.
The underground network now branches dozens of kilometres through the Gaza Strip reaching the towns of Khan Younis, Jabalia, and the Shati refugee camp. They also stretch into Israel.
The tunnels are used by Hamas and other Islamist groups in Gaza, including the Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine.
The groups use the network to hide rockets and other munitions, facilitate communication within their organisations, conceal militants, and launch attacks.
Hamas uses the network to hide rockets and other munitions, facilitate communication within their organisations, conceal militants, launch attacks, and conduct training (pictured, a Palestinian youth crawls in a tunnel during a Hamas graduation ceremony)
Israel has long struggled to wipeout the system, despite top of the range military and intelligence equipment (pictured, an Israeli soldier enters a Hamas tunnel)
Israel has struggled to destroy the tunnels because they are extremely difficult to detect from the air (pictured, an IDF officer inspects a tunnel in the Philadelphia Corridor, Gaza)
The first Hamas tunnels were built between the Gaza Strip and Egypt and were designed for smuggling consumer goods to bypass the Israeli blockade (pictured, a Palestinian smuggler moves a goat through a tunnel from Egypt to Gaza)
Israel has long struggled to wipeout the system, despite top of the range military and intelligence equipment.
This is primarily because the tunnels, which are believed to have cost between $30 million (£21.3 million) and $90 million (£63.9 million) to build, are extremely difficult to detect from the air.
Some of the three dozen tunnels built since the end of the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict are estimated to have cost $3 million ($2.13 million).
The tunnels are reinforced with concrete to protect them from airstrikes and from caving in.
Footage from inside the tunnels shows a sweaty and cramped environment, not tall enough for fighters to stand up straight.
Hamas first used the tunnels to launch an attack on Israel in July 2014, when 13 fighters used the network to surface near a kibbutz.
At the time, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya said the tunnels represented ‘a new strategy in confronting the occupation and in the conflict with the enemy from underground and from above the ground’.
Tensions between Israel and Gaza had been intensifying since June 2014, when three teens were kidnapped and murdered by Hamas, allegedly without the knowledge of the organisation’s leadership.
Rockets fired by Hamas into Israeli territory and by the IDF into the Gaza Strip then formally sparked the seven-week conflict in July 2014.
One of the primary Israeli objectives of the war, known as Operation Protective Edge, was to destroy Hamas’s network of tunnels.
The IDF reported it had ‘neutralised’ 32 tunnels along the Israel-Gaza border during the conflict, including 14 which crossed into Israel.
The devastating 2014 conflict killed 2,251 Palestinians, while more than 10,000 were wounded and 100,000 were left homeless.
On the Israeli side, 74 people were killed, all but six of them soldiers.
Though Israel said it levelled 32 tunnels during the conflict, many have been rebuilt by Hamas who continue to use the underground network.
Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza say tunnels are needed for defence.
In 2015, the Islamist group started using heavy machinery, including bulldozers and tractors, as well as engineering tools to accelerate construction of the tunnels.
The reconstruction was largely funded by Iran, the Sunday Telegraph reported at the time citing intelligence sources. The Islamic Republic also provided rockets and missiles to replenish Hamas’s arsenal.
Tunnels were among Hamas’s most effective tools during the 2014 war with Israel, with militants using them to enter the Jewish state, carry out attacks and at times even return to Gaza through the underground passages (pictured, Hamas tunnels identified by the IDF in 2014)
The IDF reported it had ‘neutralised’ 32 tunnels along the Israel-Gaza border, including 14 which crossed into Israel, during the conflict which took place between July 8 and August 26, 2014 (pictured, a 2014 graphic showing tunnels targeted by the IDF in 2014)
The first Hamas tunnels were built in 2007 between the Gaza Strip and Egypt and were designed for smuggling consumer goods to bypass the Israeli blockade (pictured, a Palestinian waits to enter a tunnel that runs under the Egyptian border)
Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza say tunnels are needed for defence (pictured, armed Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, deploy in the tunnels in Gaza City during the seven-week conflict in 2014)
Gazans have long used the network of tunnels to bypass the closed Egyptian border at Rafah to bring in staple goods and fuels as well as shipments of arms (pictured, a Palestinian enters a tunnel that runs between Gaza and Egypt)
Some rudimentary tunnels existed in Gaza as early as 2002. One was used to bomb an Israeli outpost within the Strip in 2004 (pictured, an Israeli soldiers inspects a tunnel in the Rafah area in Gaza in 2002)
A tunnel bomb attack on an Israeli outpost took place in December 2004, killing five IDF soldiers (pictured, IDF soldiers inspect a tunnel discovered in December 2005 near Israel’s Erez Checkpoint, north of the Gaza Strip)
All together, the tunnels are believed to have cost between $30 million (£21.3 million) and $90 million (£63.9 million) to build (pictured, an Israeli officer inspects a Hamas tunnel that was destroyed in October 2017)
Several tunnels then collapsed or were destroyed by the Egyptian Army in in 2016 and 2017, killing at least 54 Hamas members.
In 2018, the IDF announced it had found and destroyed the longest and deepest tunnel ever dug by Palestinian Islamists Hamas.
The tunnel, which Israel says would have ‘cost millions to build’, allegedly began below the Gaza Strip and went on for ‘several kilometres’, well into Israeli territory.
Israel says the Hamas tunnel came from the northern area of Jabaliya, was being dug in the direction of the Nahal Oz community in Israel, and was connected to several others within Gaza.
The IDF said it was made it inoperable by filling it with material days after it was discovered.
In 2018, the IDF announced it had found and destroyed the longest and deepest tunnel ever dug by Palestinian Islamists Hamas (pictured, the site of the tunnel in 2018)
The tunnel, which Israel says would have ‘cost millions to build’, allegedly began below the Gaza Strip and went on for ‘several kilometres’, well into Israeli territory (pictured, an Israeli soldier inspects a disused tunnel in 2018)
The Islamic Republic provided rockets and missiles to replenish Hamas’s arsenal after the 2014 and supplied engineering equipment to allow fighters to re-build tunnels in Gaza (pictured, a Palestinian militant gets out of a tunnel during a graduation ceremony in 2016)
The IDF repeatedly says it is able to make tunnels inoperable by filling them with materials after they are discovered (pictured, an Israeli soldier walks through a tunnel the army discovered and seized in October 2013)
Israel has since turned to more creative means of finding and destroying Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza – building a massive underground slurry wall along the Strip to stop militants constructing ‘attack’ tunnels.
Construction on the three billion shekel project (£640 million) started in mid-2017 and finished in March 2021.
The concrete wall, which is accompanied by motion sensors designed to detect tunnel digging, is about eight metres high and spans 41 miles along the Israel-Gaza border.
The barrier was built on Israeli territory, east of the existing border fence, near the town of Sderot, off the northern Gaza Strip, and the Nahal Oz area near Gaza City.
It also includes an offshore barrier intended to stop sea-based commando attacks.
In October 2020, motion sensors on the wall detected a tunnel from the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis that ran several dozen metres into Israeli territory.
Israel has since turned to more creative means of finding and destroying Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza, building a massive underground slurry wall along the Strip to stop militants constructing ‘attack’ tunnels (pictured, and Israeli soldier keeps guard next to a tunnel entrance)
Since 2014, Israel has turned to more creative means of destroying Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza – building a massive underground slurry wall along the Strip to stop militants constructing ‘attack’ tunnels (pictured, an Israeli soldier leaves a secured Hamas tunnel in 2014)
Despite the barrier, which was was built on Israeli territory, east of the existing border fence, near the town of Sderot, off the northern Gaza Strip, and the Nahal Oz area near Gaza City, Hamas has continued to dig new tunnels
Several Hamas members were killed in tunnel collapses in 2016 and 2017 (pictured, the organisation’s fighters in Gaza City gather to pay tribute to their fallen fellow militants)
In October 2020, motion sensors on the wall detected a tunnel from the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis that ran several dozen metres into Israeli territory (pictured, a different Hamas tunnel discovered by the IDF)
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