“I am determined to continue this operation until its objective is achieved: to restore quiet and security to you, citizens of Israel.” said Netanyahu…reports Asian Lite News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country was determined to continue its fight against the Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip after US President Joe Biden called for “a significant de-escalation”.
The White House said in a statement that Biden told Netanyahu on Wednesday “that he expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire” in the deadly violence, reports Xinhua news agency.
Netanyahu later in the day issued a video statement on Twitter, saying: “I am determined to continue this operation until its objective is achieved: to restore quiet and security to you, citizens of Israel.”
The two leaders have held three previous talks over the phone since Israel launched its “Guardian of the Walls” offensive in Gaza on May 10.
Palestinian Territories, Gaza City: Rockets are fired by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas from Gaza City towards Israel, amid the escalating flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Photo: Mohammed Talatene/dpa/IANS
According to the latest data by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 219 Palestinians, including 63 children, were killed in Gaza.
In the West Bank, 25 Palestinian deaths were tallied, including four children.
Israeli sources reported 12 people killed, including two children and a soldier.
Thousands of people are injured, mainly in the West Bank and in Gaza
Militant groups fired barrages of rockets from the Gaza Strip at Israel, while Israeli fighter jets kept carrying out intensive airstrikes on buildings and infrastructure in the besieged enclave.
Combo photo of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L), U.S. President Joe Biden, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R). (Xinhua/IANS)
Biden remarks came amid report that an airstrike carried out by the Israeli military earlier in the day that destroyed a building housing international news organizations in Gaza…reports Asian Lite News
US President Joe Biden expressed concerns about the escalating conflict in the Gaza Strip in separate phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
During his call with Netanyahu, Biden on Saturday voiced concerns about violent confrontations in the West Bank and “shared his grave concern about the intercommunal violence across Israel”, Xinhua news agency quoted a White House readout of the conversation.
He also raised concerns about “the safety and security of journalists and reinforced the need to ensure their protection”, likely referring to an airstrike carried out by the Israeli military earlier in the day that destroyed a building housing international news organizations in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Biden “reaffirmed his strong support for Israel’s right to defend itself against rocket attacks from Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza”, said the readout.
Biden also held his first phone conversation with Abbas since he took office in January, in which he conveyed Washington’s “commitment to strengthening the US-Palestinian partnership”.
The two leaders discussed current tensions in Jerusalem and the West Bank and expressed their shared concern about the loss of civilian life in the ongoing violence, the White House said in a separate readout.
Biden emphasized to Abbas the need for Hamas to halt firing rockets into Israel.
He voiced his support for the two-state solution in speaking with both leaders.
The phone calls came amid escalating violence between the Israeli security forces and Palestinian militants.
Israeli fighter jets on Saturday bombed and demolished Jala Tower, a high-rise building in Gaza City housing Al-Jazeera TV and Associated Press (AP) offices, as well as residential apartments.
The building “contained military assets belonging to the intelligence offices of Hamas”, said an Israeli military spokesperson in a statement.
AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt said ithat “we are shocked and horrified that the Israeli military would target and destroy the building housing AP’s bureau and other news organizations in Gaza”.
“We narrowly avoided a terrible loss of life,” he said.
“A dozen AP journalists and freelancers were inside the building and thankfully we were able to evacuate them in time.”
The ongoing conflict was the worst violence between Israel and the besieged Palestinian enclave since 2014.
Palestinian Territories, Gaza city: Fire billows from a building hit by an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip, amid the escalating flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence(Photo: Mahmoud Khattab/Quds Net News via ZUMA Wire/dpa/IANS)
Militant groups in Gaza continued firing barrages of rockets targeting cities in northern, central and southern Israel.
A spokesperson of the Israeli army said that more than 200 rockets were fired from Gaza at Israel in the last 12 hours, while the overall number since Monday increased to over 1,800.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry in Gaza said that since Monday more than 140 Palestinians have been killed, including 40 children and 20 women, and about 1,000 others injured.
The rocket attacks have also killed at least nine Israelis and wounded 200 others so far.
There was no more information about the Hamas chief, while informed sources said he wasn’t home when the building was bombed….reports Asian Lite News
Homes and apartments in the Gaza Strip, including the house of a Hamas leader, were bombed and destroyed as Israel slammed the region with airstrikes.
According to witnesses and local sources, among the targets on Saturday was the house of Yehya Sinwar, leader of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip, reports Xinhua news agency.
There was no more information about the Hamas chief, while informed sources said he wasn’t home when the building was bombed.
Palestinian Territories, Gaza city: Fire billows from a building hit by an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip, amid the escalating flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence(Photo: Mahmoud Khattab/Quds Net News via ZUMA Wire/dpa/IANS)
The house of his brother, Mohammed Sinwar, was also bombed with approximately 15 air raids.
“The Israeli warplanes launched more than 155 air strikes among several areas of Gaza Strip as a reaction of launching batches of new versions of missiles by the Palestinian armed resistance factions towards southern and central Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv,” said a civil defense spokesman.
Ambulance and civil defence crews in Gaza were still searching for bodies and survivors under the rubble of the bombed buildings.
