Heavy bombardment on the Gaza Strip has continued into Wednesday as Israeli forces launched intensive raids on various locations across the besieged coastal territory.
Hamas, the group that rules the Gaza Strip, confirmed that its Gaza City commander, Bassem Issa, was killed in an Israeli airstrike along with other senior members of the group.
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 pregnant woman, Reema Telbani and her child 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 53, including 14 children. More than 300 others have been wounded.
Six 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.
Italy, Germany want de-escalation in Israel, Gaza
Italy and Germany want an immediate end to the violence between Israel and Palestinian militants, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said after talks with his German counterpart.
“We strongly request all the parties to immediately take measures aimed at de-escalation and to exercise the greatest restraint,” De Maio said in a statement.
Ex-PLO member calls on international community to act
Hanan Ashrawi, a former leading member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), called on the international community to end Israel’s “unbridled use of violence.”
“You have here an unbridled use of violence by the strongest army in the region targeting innocent civilians, targeting residential buildings in an area that has been totally closed in, besieged without any means of defense, with no air force, no shelters, with no sirens and at the same time the Israelis claim self-defense.”
“This is not new but this escalation is new. It has been emboldened by the Trump administration’s collusion, the Biden administration’s lack of action and the reticence of the Europeans so the question now is do you allow Israel to target Jerusalem, to kick out Palestinians, the [third] highest holy site during Ramadan and to get away with it?”
Al Jazeera
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