Death toll in Gaza rises to 119, as threat of a ground assault looms after Israel amasses tanks and troops near besieged enclave.
Israel continued on Friday to bombard the Gaza Strip with air raids and artillery shells as it stepped up the deployment of troops and tanks near the besieged Palestinian enclave.
At least 119 Palestinians, including 31 children, have been killed and more than 830 wounded since hostilities flared up on Monday. Hundreds of Palestinian families have taken shelter in UN-run schools in northern Gaza to escape Israeli artillery fire, with locals reporting that that the Strip had experienced its “most violent” night.
Despite international calls for an immediate halt of all hostilities, including from United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged the offensive will continue “as needed to restore calm in the state of Israel”.
Hamas fired another barrage of rockets towards Israel, hitting the city of Ashkelon in the early hours on Friday.
At least six Israelis and one Indian national have also been killed. The Israeli army said hundreds of rockets have been fired from Gaza towards various locations in Israel and they have added reinforcements near the enclave’s eastern lands.
Meanwhile, violence is brewing between Israeli settlers and Palestinian citizens in the West Bank as well as in Israel. In another potential escalation, at least three rockets were fired from southern Lebanon towards Israel.
Here are the latest updates:
Southern Israel ‘relatively quiet’
Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett, who has been reporting from southern Israel close to the the Gaza Strip where Israel has amassed military tanks and troops, gave the following update:
“It is relatively quiet right now compared to the previous days and to the extremely intense exchange of fire that took place in the night,” Fawcett said, referring to a barrage of rockets launched by Hamas into the city of Ashkelon around 3am local time (00:00 GMT).
The volley of rockets was followed by some confusion, Fawcett said, “deliberately or not” as reports suggested that Israel was considering a ground invasion. The report was later dismissed.
Israel refuses mediation initiative to reach truce: Report
An Egyptian delegation that met with Israeli officials to mediate the negotiation of a ceasefire did not reach any positive results, an Egyptian security source told DPA news agency.
Israel refused all initiatives of mediation to reach a truce, even a temporary one, with forces in the Gaza Strip, the source adds.
According to the source, Israel aims to destroy the military capabilities of Hamas and other factions in Gaza and target a number of Hamas senior officials wanted by Israel, before returning to negotiations on a ceasefire.
Israeli air raids destroy, damage scores of homes and schools: UN
Israeli air raids have destroyed or severely damaged more than 200 housing units in the Gaza Strip, while 24 schools have sustained damages, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The agency said the escalation has been having an impact on access to water, sanitation, healthcare and the COVID-19 response.
It noted that the North Gaza Seawater Desalination Plant was still not operational affecting an estimated 250,000 people’s access to clean drinking water. Another 230,000 people from Gaza City and Khan Younis have limited access to piped water due to increasing power cuts and the damages to the networks, according to OCHA.
Al Jazeera
Comments About This Article
Please fill the fields below.