Israel-Gaza live: More than 52,000 Palestinians ‘displaced by airstrikes’ as Biden shows support for ceasefire

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Harrowing footage shows Palestinian father’s final moments before he is killed in Israeli air strikes.mp4

More than 52,000 Palestinians have been displaced by Israeli airstrikes, the United Nations aid agency said on Tuesday.

About 47,000 of the people displaced people have sought shelter in 58 UN-run schools in Gaza, Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told reporters, according to Reuters.

It comes as the Israeli army unleashed a fresh wave of airstrikes on Gaza overnight.

Israel’s army said it was once again targeting an underground “metro” system it says is being used by Hamas operatives to evade surveillance.

The residences of five Hamas commanders were also struck, with the Israeli military asserting that some of the homes had been used as command and control centres, while an anti-tank squad in Gaza City was also targeted.

On Monday, President Joe Biden expressed support for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas rulers in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The US leader stopped short of demanding an immediate end to the violence, but “expressed his support for a ceasefire” and “encouraged Israel to make every effort to ensure the protection of innocent civilians,” the White House said.

Mr Biden also renewed his “his firm support for Israel’s right to defend itself against indiscriminate rocket attacks,” a readout of the call said.

At least 213 Palestinians have been killed in airstrikes so far, including 61 children, with more than 1,400 people wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Meanwhile, ten people have been killed in Israel, including two children, Israeli authorities have said.

• A brief history of the Israel-Palestinian conflict
• Israel-Palestine map: Gaza’s conflict hotspots and a history of violence at the border
• Gaza ‘days away’ from blackout as fuel running out after week of bombardment
• ‘I lost my entire family, in an instant’: Miracle baby is sole survivor of Israeli airstrike that kills 10

Key Points

• Israeli army unleashes fresh wave of airstrikes ‘targeting tunnel system'
• Biden expresses support for ceasefire
• More than 52,000 Palestinians displaced amid fighting, UN says
• Islamic Jihad commander reportedly killed by Israeli airstrike
• Netanyahu vows to continue campaign at ‘full force’
• ‘If Israel does not want to stop, we will not stop,’ Hamas official says
• Q&A: Bel Trew answers readers’ questions on conflict

[17 May 2021 10:13 · Chantal Da Silva]

Gaza medical response impacted by Israeli airstrikes, officials say

Gaza medical services are struggling after clinics and hospitals were damaged by Israeli airstrikes, health officials have said.

Israeli attacks on Gaza have damaged health facilities, destroyed road’s around the strips’s biggest hospital and seen two prominent Palestinian doctors killed, Gaza health officials and rights groups have said.

Bel Trew looks at the impact the assaults have had on Gaza’s medical response:

[17 May 2021 10:49 · Chantal Da Silva]

Gaza death toll rises to 198, with at least 1,300 injured

The death toll in Gaza has so far risen by one death since Sunday, with at least 198 people killed since the surge in fighting that began last week.

In the wake of Israeli airstrikes, which unfolded overnight, Gaza health officials reported that at least 198 people have been killed in total, including 58 children.

At least 1,300 others have also been injured in the fighting.

It is unclear if the death toll will rise following the overnight airstrikes.

Meanwhile, Israeli officials have said 10 people, including two children, have died in Israel since the major escalation in violence began last week.

[17 May 2021 11:20 · Chantal Da Silva]

Gaza tunnels destroyed overnight in ‘heaviest bombardment’ since start of war

Residents of Gaza awakened by an overnight barrage of airstrikes from Israel have described the bombardment as the heaviest since fighting escalated a week ago.

The Israeli military unleashed a flood of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip early Monday, saying it had destroyed 15 kilometres of an underground tunnel system it said is used by Hamas operatives.

The military also said the homes of nine alleged Hamas commanders had been destroyed.

Read more on the impact of the assault here:

[17 May 2021 11:44 · Chantal Da Silva]

Erdogan urges Pope to continue denouncing Gaza violence

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Pope Francis in a phone call that he believes the international community should impose sanctions on Israel for its attacks on Gaza that have seen 198 Palestinians killed and hundreds more injured.

The Turkish leader also called on the Pope to continue speaking out on the conflict after the pontiff called for peace on Sunday.

The Turkish presidency said Erdogan told the Pope that Israel was threatening regional security.

He said the international community should “teach Israel the deterrent lesson it deserves”.

“Erdogan...underlined that Palestinians would continue to be subjected to massacre as long as the international community did not punish Israel - which is committing humanitarian crimes - with sanctions,” the presidency said in a statement.

He also “emphasized that the continued messages from Pope Francis carried great importance in mobilizing the Christian world and international community,” it said.

Additional reporting from Reuters.

[17 May 2021 12:06 · Chantal Da Silva]

Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza reportedly killed by Israeli airstrike

A top commander with the Islamic Jihad militant group was reportedly killed in an Israeli airstike in Gaza.

Hussam Abu Harbeed’s death was confirmed by the Israeli military, according to Reuters, with the press agency further confirming the incident with a source within the militant group.

The Islamic Jihad’s northern division commander’s reported death expected to draw a response from the militant group as Israel continues to target sites, including an underground tunnel system, associated with Hamas.

In a statement confirming it had killed Harbeed, the Israeli military said the commander “was behind several anti-tank missile terror attacks against Israeli civilians.”

Harbeed was a commander with Islamic Jihad for at least 15 years, the military said.

Additional reporting by Reuters.

[17 May 2021 12:32 · Tom Batchelor]

Gaza death toll rises to 200

The death toll in Gaza has risen by two to 200, including 59 children, according to the health ministry.

Some 1,300 people have been wounded, officials said.

Eight people in Israel have been killed in rocket attacks launched from Gaza, including a five-year-old boy and a soldier.

Ambulances evacuating injured Palestinians to Egypt for treatment arrive at the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip (AFP via Getty Images)

[17 May 2021 12:50 · Tom Batchelor]

Tory MP criticised for describing pro-Palestinian demonstrators as ‘primitives’

Conservative MP Michael Fabricant has been condemned for spreading “hateful racism” after describing pro-Palestine protesters in London as “primitives”.

Tweeting a video of clashes with police outside the Israeli embassy on Saturday, the MP for Lichfield said: “These primitives are trying to bring to London what they do in the Middle East."

The tweet immediately sparked outrage, including from the anti-racism campaign Hope Not Hate.

[17 May 2021 13:11 · Tom Batchelor]

UK calls for Israel to use ‘proportionate’ force

The British government says Israel must ensure that its military activities against Hamas are “proportionate” and it is deeply concerned by the destruction of media offices and other civilian targets in Gaza.

Boris Johnson’s spokesman, Max Blain, said Britain is “in contact with our US and UN counterparts and urgently seeking more information from the Israeli government” on Saturday’s attack, which destroyed a high-rise building housing the offices of The Associated Press and other media organisations.

“We are deeply concerned by UN reports that 23 schools and 500 homes, as well as medical facilities and media offices, have been destroyed or damaged in Gaza,” Mr Blain said.

He added that “Israel must make every effort to avoid civilian casualties and military activity must be proportionate.”

Mr Blain also said the UK was concerned about Hamas using civilian areas as cover. Israel says the media building was also being used by Hamas, though it has not offered evidence.

[17 May 2021 14:04 · Chantal Da Silva]

Hundreds of families in Gaza ‘evacuating homes amid school bombings threat’

Hundreds of families are evacuating their homes after receiving warning of plans from Israel to bomb two schools, the director of a Gaza-based human rights centre has said.

“Now in Gaza, my family and more than 300 families (around 2.5k) are evacuating our homes,” Issam Younis, the director of the Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights, said in a tweet.

“The Israeli army informed and will attack two elementary schools (Al Aqsa and Al Buraq) next to where I live in a very civilian densely populated area,” he said.

Hanan Ashwari, a former top Palestinian official, also tweeted about the threat, asserting that Israel had informed international organisations that “it intends to blow up two schools”.

She said the schools are among centres being prepared to shelter families whose homes have been destroyed.

“Nowhere to go,” she said.

[17 May 2021 14:30 · Chantal Da Silva]

UK ‘urgently’ seeking answers from Israel on attacks that destroyed media offices

The British government has said it is seeking answers from Israel about attacks that saw media offices in Gaza destroyed.

In a statement, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said: “We are deeply concerned by UN reports that more than 23 schools and 500 homes as well as medical facilities and media offices have been destroyed or seriously damaged in Gaza.

On the destruction of buildings housing media companies including The Associated Press and Al Jazeera, he said: “We are in contact with our US and European counterparts and urgently seeking more information from the Israeli government on this.”

“Israel has a legitimate right to defend its citizens from attack but in doing so it must make every effort to avoid civilian casualties and military action must be proportionate and in line with international humanitarian law,” he asserted.

The spokesperson said the UK is “also concerned by reports that Hamas is again using civilian infrastructure and populations as cover for its operations”.