Photos: (L) Smoke billows from an Israeli bombardment at sunrise on Khan Yunish in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday; (R) Israel's Iron Dome aerial defence system is activated to intercept a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip towards the southern Israeli city of Ashdod on Wednesday - AFP/Getty Images
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to inflict huge damage upon Hamas in revenge for the estimated 1,000 rockets that have been fired by the group into Israel, killing 7 people.
The call comes as many fear that a full-scale ground invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces may take place. Israeli airstrikes have pounded Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip, an area controlled by the group, killing up to 90, including at least 14 children.
Netanyahu has vowed:
"This is only the beginning."
An hour ago, a Hamas rocket hit a civilian neighbourhood in Petah Tikva, causing injuries & significant damage.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 13, 2021
Troops from our Search & Rescue Brigade are now at the scene providing assistance in the city's time of need. pic.twitter.com/fnbVXOc0E9
WATCH AND LISTEN: Hamas fires a barrage of rockets at Israeli civilians last night. pic.twitter.com/iUrD9LxXBx
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 26, 2019
Videos from the scene showed residential buildings collapsing as Israeli airstrikes hit alleged Hamas targets. It is thought that as many as 95% of the rockets fired from Gaza into Israel are intercepted by the Israeli anti-missile dome system that shoots down the relatively primitive rockets while they are air-born.
World leaders have called for both Israel and Palestine to de-escalate the situation, including the UK and US governments. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said:
"[The Biden administration has] had more than 25, high level calls and meetings by senior US officials with senior officials from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and their partners and other stakeholders. A lot of it is happening, privately through diplomatic channels, it's happening with officials in the region we're in regular dialogue, multiple times per day as I noted with the Egyptian and Qatari officials, who have significant influence over Hamas - and our objective here is descalation as we look to protecting the people to reach out."
The United States is a long-time ally of Israel.
Senior Jewish figures have also urged Israel to stop the bombing. Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef stated:
"We must not be dragged into provocations and inflicting harm on people or property. The Torah of Israel grants no license for taking the law into one's hands and acting violently."
The recent trouble started after Palestinian families in the West Bank (an area of Palestine controlled by the non-religious Palestinian nationalist group 'Fatah' and not the Islamic militant group 'Hamas') were forced to sell their homes to Jewish families. There have also been a number of racist attacks by right-wing Israelis on Arabs in the West Bank. This led to rioting in East Jerusalem and the beginning of the Hamas rocket attacks.
Many ultra-orthodox Jews believe that they should force the Palestinians out and take over the land as their own, they claim it is promised to them by God.
Israel last invaded Gaza in 2014. Over 2,000 people were killed. The Palestine-Israeli conflict has existed for over 70 years since Jews from around the world came to Palestine and began removing Palestinians from the land in order to create the new state of Israel.
[h/t: Daily Mail]
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