GAZA CITY – Deafening air strikes and rocket fire once more shook Gaza overnight and early today amid an international diplomatic push to broker a ceasefire after more than a week of bloodshed.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s bombing of Gaza had set its Hamas Islamist rulers back “many years” since it began on May 10 in response to Hamas rocket fire.
Warplanes hit Gaza City again in the pre-dawn hours, with the Israeli military continuing to target Palestinian militant leaders and infrastructure in the crowded enclave, under Israeli blockade for nearly 15 years.
Randa Abu Sultan, 45, said her family were all gathered in one room to sit out the night.
“We’re all terrified by the sound of explosions, missiles, and fighter jets,” said the mother of seven.
“My four-year-old son tells me he’s scared that if he falls asleep, he’ll wake up to find us dead.”
The Israeli army said it had attacked “40 underground Hamas targets” overnight in the southern Gaza Strip.
In the northern Gaza Strip, a journalist working for Hamas-linked Al-Aqsa radio was killed when an Israeli strike hit his home north of Gaza City, authorities said, the first reporter killed during the current round of violence.
Israeli air strikes have killed at least 219 Palestinians, including 63 children, in Gaza since May 10, the territory’s Health Ministry said.
Palestinian rocket fire has killed 12 people in Israel, Israeli police said.
Overnight, armed groups fired 50 rockets towards southern Israel, 10 of which fell short and struck inside Gaza, the Israeli military said.
A UN Security Council meeting broke up without issuing a statement late yesterday, but France then said it had proposed a resolution calling for a ceasefire, in coordination with Israel’s neighbours Egypt and Jordan.
Zhang Jun, Beijing’s ambassador to the UN, told reporters his team had heard the French ceasefire proposal and China was “supportive”.
Another diplomat said the proposal would seek to end hostilities, but also “allow humanitarian access”. – AFP, May 19, 2021
