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The Hamas militant group headed to Tel Aviv with dozens of rockets on Tuesday evening after Israel increased the intensity of its airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, threatening to turn a two-day round of hostilities into further conflict. wide.
The flights were reoriented as the skies lit up the center of Tel Aviv with the defenses of Israel’s Iron Dome following simultaneously dozens of rockets. One collided with an empty bus in Holon, south of Tel Aviv. At least six people received medical attention and lower casualties are expected.
The escalation came hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an extension of Israel’s air campaign in the Gaza Strip, as the Israeli army tried to degrade Hamas’ operational capabilities with dozens of bombings, aimed at platforms. of rocket launching and to military commanders.
“Hamas will receive blows here that it did not expect,” Netanyahu said Tuesday evening. Hamas responded by vowing to attack Tel Aviv, saying it had fired 130 rockets at once, probably a tactical attempt to overwhelm Israeli air defenses.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who has ordered 5,000 reserve troops to return to service, said earlier that Israeli airstrikes will continue until “its operational objectives are met.”
Gaza authorities say 24 Palestinians have been killed, including nine children, although it is unclear whether all the deaths were due to Israeli airstrikes. According to the Israeli Defense Forces, Israel had killed at least 20 militants of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. With Israel conducting complex maneuvers, he warned that civilian casualties were likely. “Some of the focal points are embedded in the civilian population and it cannot be ruled out that there are civilian casualties,” he said.
After days of tension in Jerusalem, the militant group leading Gaza fired rockets at the city, the furthest from Israel since 2014, on Monday night. Israel responded immediately with dozens of specific airstrikes.
Hamas action came after Israeli police on Monday cleared Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque, a sacred site for Muslims and Jews, and wounded hundreds of Muslim protesters with tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets. . Palestinians have been angered by restrictions near the mosque and planned evictions of Arabs to make way for Jewish settlers.
Egyptian, Qatari and UN officials intervening between Israel and Hamas were trying to restore calm, an Israeli official said on Tuesday. Israel had rejected Hamas’ first truce offer, Channel 12 TV reported.
The Arab League described Israel’s response to Gaza as “indiscriminate and irresponsible” and “a miserable show of strength at the expense of children’s blood.”
White House spokesman Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden had received updates from his national security team and that his main focus was de-escalation.
He said the U.S. condemned rocket attacks by Hamas and other groups, including the attacks in Jerusalem, and that Biden’s support for “Israel’s security, for its legitimate right to defend itself and the his people, he is fundamental and will never hesitate. ”
“Jerusalem, a city of such importance to people of faith around the world, must be a place of coexistence,” Psaki said.
The UN security council would meet in private on Wednesday, diplomats said, to discuss the outbreak of violence.
As a sign of agitation, there have been riots in several Israeli cities, including Lod, Ramle and Jaffa. There were also clashes in Hebron in the West Bank. “Yesterday there were wild disturbances, which we cannot tolerate, by young bigheads. Our policy is to do everything we can to maintain law and order, ”said Netanyahu.
In addition to the two dead, six Israelis have been injured in rocket attacks, according to Israeli doctors. Two rockets hit a house and a multi-story apartment building in Ashkelon, a city near the Gaza Strip, according to a separate report by Kan Radio on Tuesday. It was said that 30 people were treated at a nearby hospital.
Rockets are shown being fired from Gaza at Israel © AFP via Getty Images
Tensions had risen as a court case over the evictions coincided with an annual Israeli celebration that began on Jerusalem Day on Sunday, when Israelis celebrate their conquest of East Arab Jerusalem in 1967. adjourned.
Violence comes at a precarious time in Israeli politics. Netanyahu’s position has been weakened as the coalition talks between its rivals, who are on the verge of a government that could dethroned the prime minister five times. His right-wing supporters see evictions in East Jerusalem as an important part of a long-standing strategy to replace Arabs with Jews in the Holy City.
Additional reports from Heba Saleh in Cairo
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