Israel launches more airstrikes after 42 Palestinians killed in Gaza City

Israel launched a new barrage of heavy airstrikes early on Monday just hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned an offensive against Gaza’s Hamas rulers would rage on.

Rockets fell on Gaza City for 10 minutes in an attack that Associated Press say was heavier, on a wider area and lasted longer than a series of air raids 24 hours earlier in which 42 Palestinians were killed.

But there was no sign of any imminent end to the most serious hostilities in years between Israel and the Hamas Islamists who rule the densely-populated enclave, where two million Palestinians live.

Roads, security buildings, militants’ training camps and houses were bombed in Israeli attacks that were focused on Gaza City, witnesses said.

TOPSHOT-PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-CONFLICT-GAZA
Fire and smoke rise above buildings in Gaza City as Israeli warplanes target the Palestinian enclave
AFP via Getty Images

The Israeli military said that after rockets were fired at the Israeli cities of Beersheba and Ashkelon, its fighter jets struck nine residences belonging to high-ranking Hamas commanders. Some of the homes, it said, were used for weapons storage.

There were no immediate reports of casualties on either side of the border.

An Israeli air strike in Gaza destroyed several homes on Sunday, killing 42 people including 10 children, Palestinan health officials said.

“I have not seen this level of destruction through my 14 years of work,” said Samir al-Khatib, an emergency rescue official in Gaza. “Not even in the 2014 war.”

Rescuers furiously dug through the rubble using excavators and bulldozers amid clouds of heavy dust. One shouted, “Can you hear me?” into a hole. Minutes later, first responders pulled a survivor out.

ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-CONFLICT-FIRE
AFP via Getty Images

Haya Abdelal, 21, who lives in a building next to one that was destroyed, said she was sleeping when the airstrikes sent her fleeing into the street. She accused Israel of not giving its usual warning to residents to leave before launching such an attack.

“We are tired,” she said, “We need a truce. We can’t bear it anymore.”

In a televised address on Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel’s attacks were continuing at “full-force” and would “take time.“

On the killings of Palestinian children, he pointed the blame at Hamas, saying the organisation uses civilians as human shields.

TOPSHOT-ISRAEL-SYNAGOGUE-COLLAPSE
Members of the Israeli security forces evacuate an injured ultra-Orthodox Jewish man after the collapse of grandstand seating at a synagogue in the Israeli settlement of Givat Zeev in the occupied West Bank
AFP via Getty Images

“We are targeting a terrorist organization that is targeting our civilians and hiding behind their civilians, using them as human shields,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can to hit the terrorists themselves, their rockets, their rocket caches and their arms, but we’re not just going to let them get away with it.”

He said Israel does everything it can to avoid civilian casualties. “They’re sending thousands of rockets on our cities with the specific purpose of murdering our civilians from these places,” he said. “What would you do?”

Hours after he spoke, Israeli warplanes began another round of attacks in the Gaza Strip, attacking a main road, security compounds and an electricity line feeding southern Gaza City, according to The Associated Press.

Israel has faced wide condemnation from international press organizations for blowing up a building on Saturday that housed the offices of international media organizations including The Associated Press and Al Jazeera. Israeli forces warned in advance of the attack, and there were no casualties reported. The Associated Press has asked the Israeli Government to supply evidence that Hamas soldiers were in the building.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in