JERUSALEM — More fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants has sparked clashes across the region and left the United States and the international community at odds over how to end the violence.
Overnight into Wednesday, more than 50 Israeli warplanes fired 120 guided missiles on Gaza, targeting the “metro” tunnel system used by Hamas, the militant group that governs the strip.
At least 219 Palestinians including 63 children have been killed in the Israeli strikes since last Monday, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
Hamas, which is labeled a terror group by Israel and the U.S., launched more rockets into Israel, firing around 50 more in the past 24 hours and bringing the total to 3,750 rockets in the past week, according to the Israeli military.
Around 90 percent of these are intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, the Israeli military said. The rockets that have gotten through have killed 12 Israelis including two children, and have lit up the skies of cities such as Tel Aviv and sent residents fleeing to underground bomb shelters.
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem protested Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip by holding a general strike Tuesday amid clashes with Israeli security forces.
Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers broke out in Ramallah, a city in the West Bank. Support for Hamas isn’t unanimous here — but some see this as an opportunity to pressure Israel on longer-running issues over Palestinian territory and equal rights.
These historical tensions reignited on May 7 when Israeli police raided Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound while Palestinian worshippers were praying there during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month. Hamas responded by firing rockets into Israel, which has replied with its own bombing campaign.
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A way out of the violence remains elusive.
On Wednesday, the French, Egyptian and Jordanian governments called on all sides to agree to a cease-fire and pledged to work through the United Nations Security Council to achieve this.
“The three leaders emphasized the urgency of addressing the root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by resuming effective negotiations to achieve a just and lasting peace,” the countries said in a joint statement.
“The three leaders emphasized that the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of the two-state solution remains indispensable for a comprehensive peace in the region.”
The U.S. has blocked a statement by the Security Council that called for an end to “the crisis related to Gaza” and for the protection of civilians.
“Our goal is to get to the end of this conflict. We are going to evaluate day by day what the right approach is. It continues to be that quiet, intensive behind-the-scenes discussions are tactically our approach at this time,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Tuesday.
Though President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday that he supported a cease-fire, he has so far resisted pressure, much of it from within his own Democratic Party, to criticize Israel’s actions.
The U.S. gives Israel $3.8 billion a year in military aid, equivalent to 20 percent of Israel’s defense budget and nearly three-fifths of U.S. foreign military financing globally.
Netanyahu reiterated in a post on Twitter on Tuesday that Israel’s attacks “will continue for as long as it takes to restore calm” for all of its citizens.
Some 52,000 of Gaza’s 2 million people have been displaced as more than 400 buildings, including homes, hospitals and schools, have been damaged or destroyed, according to U.N. agency officials on the ground.
Gaza, already impoverished and struggling to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic, has had its two primary health care centers “annihilated” by strikes over the past few days, Dr. Medhat Abbas, head of international cooperation at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, said in an interview.
“The situation now is if the numbers of casualties continue to mount with the same rate, I assure you that the health system will collapse in the coming few days,” he added, “There’ll be no room to treat any more victims of this aggression.”
On the other side of the fence, in the Israeli city of Ashkelon near the Gaza border, Dr. Nomy Levin described having to treat all of her patients in an underground shelter during Hamas’ barrage.
“This is the best way to feel like safe during all the bombs,” said Dr. Levin, who works at the Barzilai Medical Center. “They are all connected to machines, so if we hear an alarm or bombs then we cannot disconnect them. So they need to just sit and pray.”
Alexander Smith and Adela Suliman reported from London, Paul Goldman and Lawahez Jabari reported from Tel Aviv, and Richard Engel reported from Jerusalem and Ramallah, in the West Bank.
Paul Goldman, Lawahez Jabari, Gabe Joselow and The Associated Press contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
