Israeli fighter jets have continued attacking high-rise buildings and other targets in the Gaza Strip as Israel boosted its deployment of troops and tanks near the besieged Palestinian enclave on Thursday.
Palestinians marked the first day of Eid al-Fitr religious holiday under relentless aerial bombardment with Gaza’s health ministry saying at least 87 people, including 18 children, have been killed since the Israeli offensive began late on Monday. More than 530 others have been wounded.
At least six Israelis and one Indian national have also been killed. The Israeli army said hundreds of rockets have been fired from Gaza towards various locations in Israel and they have added reinforcements near the enclave’s eastern lands.
There have also been more violent confrontations between Jewish Israelis and Palestinian citizens of Israel in several cities inside Israel.
Here are the latest updates:
Germany warns of protests as conflict intensifies
Authorities warned of further protests in Germany over the conflict between Israel and Palestinians.
On Wednesday, German police detained more than a dozen men in three cities suspected of damaging a synagogue, burning Israeli flags and starting a fire at a Jewish memorial site.
“Security agencies expect intensifying protest activities by Palestinians in Germany as well as parts of the leftist movement,” an Interior Ministry spokesman said.
Some of the suspects in the earlier incidents told police the Israel-Palestinian violence had motivated them to throw stones at a synagogue.
Gaza death toll reaches 87
The number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip has now risen to 87, including 18 children and eight women, the local health ministry has said.
At least 530 others have been wounded amid the continuing violence.
A Palestinian man looks at the destruction of a building hit by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City [Khalil Hamra/AP]
France asks police to ban pro-Palestinian Paris protest
France’s interior minister asked police to ban a pro-Palestinian protest in Paris this weekend over the conflict with Israel fearing a repeat of clashes during a similar situation in 2014.
Activists had called the protest in the Barbes district of northern Paris to demonstrate against Israel’s use of force in the Gaza Strip in response to the rocket fire by militant group Hamas at the Jewish state.
“I have asked the Paris police chief to ban the protests on Saturday linked to the recent tensions in the Middle East,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on Twitter.
“Serious disturbances to public order were seen in 2014,” he added, urging police chiefs elsewhere in France to also remain vigilant over demonstrations.
In a circular seen by AFP, he also urged local police chiefs to assure the “protection of places of worship, schools, cultural centres and businesses of the Jewish community.”
Women pose for a selfie for Eid al-Fitr at the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem [Mahmoud Illean/AP]
Celebrities weigh in on Israel-Palestine conflict
An escalation in the Israel-Palestine conflict, which has seen dozens killed in a matter of days, has prompted international concern and worries about the potential of an all-out war.
The conflict has gripped the international news agenda and led to global calls for de-escalation.
It has also attracted the attention of leading public figures and celebrities, including the Palestinian-Dutch models Bella and Gigi Hadid, the singer Rihanna, Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, and Israeli actress Gal Gadot.
Bella Hadid on the left and Gal Gadot on the right [Reuters]
Palestinian citizens of Israel report attacks by Israeli security forces
Riya Al-Sanah, a Palestinian activist and resident in Haifa, told Al Jazeera: “We need to set the record straight on something. This is not a civil war. We Palestinians in so-called Israel are a colonised people.”
“This started in 1948 with the establishment of the Israeli state and the colonisation of Palestine. So, it’s not correct to describe it [the inter-communal violence] as a civil war. This situation is the continuation of a process that started long time ago.
“There’s quite a lot of fear amongst Palestinian communities. We’re not only facing structured violence by the Israeli state, police institutions and the military, we’re also seeing organised and armed mobs of Zionists roaming the streets, looking for Palestinians and attacking them,” he said.
“Yesterday in Haifa, mobs that roamed the streets looking for Palestinians to attack, were being protected by the police. The police themselves went into people’s homes and attacked them viciously and violently.”
Putin and UN chief call for end to violence
Russian President Vladimir Putin and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed during a video call for an end to fighting between Israel and Palestinians, the Kremlin said.
“In light of the escalation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, it was noted that the main goal is to stop violent acts from both sides and ensure the safety of the civilian population,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
Palestinian citizens of Israel report attacks by Jewish mobs
Palestinian families in the mixed Arab-Jewish city of Haifa told Al Jazeera Arabic that mobs of Jewish Israelis were marking the homes of the city’s Arab community on Wednesday night to help identify them.
Meanwhile, others used lethal force to attack Arabs in their homes while police forces stood by and watched. homes.
“Hundreds if not thousands of settlers [Jewish Israelis] attacked Arab neighbourhoods in Haifa last night,” said Heba, an Arab resident of Haifa.
“They were asking where the Arabs live. They attacked us in our home with stones under the protection of the security forces. There were tens of police officers, cars and even horses. We had nothing to protect ourselves with in our own homes,” she added.
Heba said that “settlers went around marking Arab homes with red marks. They vowed to come back to attack us.”
“They are attacking all Arabs whether they are Muslim, Christian or Druze. We are terribly scared that they will come back and attack us in our homes and on the streets. We have nothing to protect ourselves against this state-sponsored violence.
“No one was arrested. The police actually protected them. These groups feel protected by the state, police and military and this violence,” she told Al Jazeera Arabic.
Israel looks to back-up airport as flight cancellations mount
British Airways , Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa and Iberia all cancelled flights to Tel Aviv as European carriers joined US airlines in avoiding flying to Israel, which has activated a back-up airport in the far south as a precaution against rockets from Gaza.
“The safety and security of our colleagues and customers is always our top priority, and we continue to monitor the situation closely,” British Airways said after cancelling its flights to and from Ben Gurion for Thursday.
Smoke rises following Israeli airstrikes on a building in Gaza City [Hatem Moussa/AP]
Egypt delegation in Tel Aviv for ceasefire talks
An Egyptian delegation is in Tel Aviv for talks with Israeli officials as part of efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in the escalating conflict with Gaza, Egyptian intelligence officials said.
The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to brief the media. The same delegation met with Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip first, they said, and crossed into Israel by land. Egypt has played a mediating role in the past between the sides.
Long-range missile fired towards Ramon Airport: Hamas
The spokesman for Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades said the armed wing has for the first time fired a rocket towards Ramon Airport south of the country.
“The Ayyash 250 missile, with a range greater than 250km has been launched at Ramon Airport, about 220km from Gaza,” Abu Obeida said.
The rocket is named after Yahya Ayyash, one of Hamas’s leading operatives who was assassinated by Israel in 1996.
Abu Obeida called the launch of the rocket part of the al-Qassam Brigades’ response to the killing of its senior commanders.
PM Johnson says UK wants urgent de-escalation
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Britain wanted to see an urgent de-escalation of violence in Israel.
“Certainly we in the UK are very sad to see what is happening and the cycle of violence that now seems to be taking place,” Johnson told reporters.
“I think it’s important that we break that cycle and we end this idea of reprisals, and I think that what everybody wants to see is urgent, urgent de-escalation.”
Egypt, Russia say Israel needs to stop Gaza attacks
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov agreed that Israel needs to stop attacks on the Gaza Strip.
In a phone call, the two top diplomats reiterated that Israel should stop the bloodshed, according to a statement issued by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.
‘Our weapons are for sake of our land, to defend our people’: Hamas
Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, has warned Israel there are “no red lines if Al-Aqsa is violated”.
Spokesman Abu Obeida said the decision to bomb Dimona, Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities “is easier for us than drinking water”.
“We reassure our people that we have more rockets in our inventory, and our missile strikes have revealed the enemy’s fragility,” he said.
As Israel is preparing ground troops east of the Gaza Strip, Obeida said the Israeli army will sorely regret carrying out a ground invasion.
“Our weapons are for our land, for the defence of our people and victory for our sanctities,” the military spokesman said.
“What distinguishes this battle is the solidarity of the Palestinians across the country and their unanimous support for resistance.”
Lufthansa suspends flights to Tel Aviv through Friday
German airline Lufthansa said it was suspending all flights to Tel Aviv through Friday, May 14.
“Lufthansa is closely monitoring the current situation in Israel and continues to maintain a close exchange with the authorities, security service providers and our own staff on the ground,” read a statement from the company.
Lufthansa said it expected flights to Israel to resume on Saturday, May 15.
Israel orders ‘massive reinforcement’ to quell internal violence
The Israeli defence minister, Benny Gantz, has ordered a “massive reinforcement” of security forces to help contain deadly internal unrest that has rocked mixed Jewish and Arab communities across the country.
“We are in an emergency situation due to the national violence and it is now necessary to have a massive reinforcement of forces on the ground, and they are to be sent immediately to enforce law and order,” he said.
He specified the forces would be reservists from Israel’s border police, a force that largely operates in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli army wounds 35 in occupied West Bank
At least 35 Palestinians were wounded in confrontations with the Israeli army in various locations in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim reported.
Ibrahim said that the majority of people were hit by live ammunition and that most injuries occurred in the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
“It was an exceptionally high number of injuries by live fire which shows us that the situation could be escalating rapidly,” she added.
Gaza death toll rises to 83
The number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip has now risen to 83, including 17 children, the local health ministry has said. More than 480 others have been wounded amid the continuing violence.
“This is a crime. They were civilians.”
Palestinian health officials say three Palestinians were killed when a car was hit by an Israeli air raid in Gaza City on Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/5b6tZNw1Fv
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 13, 2021
Where will Israel’s assault on Palestinians end?
In this episode of The Stream, Al Jazeera will look at what is happening in Gaza and occupied East Jerusalem and ask what it will take to stop the violence.
1,600 rockets fired from Gaza: Israel’s military
More than 1,600 rockets have been launched from Gaza at Israel since the latest flare-up of fighting began earlier this week, according to Israel’s military.
Around 400 of the rockets went down over Gaza, spokesman Jonathan Conricus said. The success rate of Israel’s Iron Dome aerial defence system continues to average around 90 per cent at intercepting rockets, he added.
Israel’s military has attacked around 600 targets in the Gaza Strip, including rocket production and storage facilities. A tunnel was also targeted that Conricus said was used partially to hide fighters and was built under a school in a populated area.
A picture taken with a drone shows the ruins of buildings which were destroyed in Israeli air strikes amid a flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence, in the northern Gaza Strip [Mohammed Salem/Reuters]
The Israeli army also said that it is going to present a plan for a ground operation for the political leadership, said Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett reporting from southern Israel, close to the border with the Gaza Strip.
“That doesn’t mean that it [the plan] will go ahead as a ground offensive in Gaza would be a huge escalatory step that carries with it a huge amount of risk,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fawcett reported that further rockets were fired out of Gaza in the course of the night adding that some reports said that more barrage will come through the day.
“So the escalatory nature of the situation remains pretty much in place.”
Fresh Israeli air raid on Rafah city
The city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip has been hit by a fresh Israeli air raid, while a barrage of rockets was launched from Gaza towards Israeli cities close to the enclave, Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Ramallah, said.
“Gaza is a relatively small piece of land with two million Palestinians – one of the most condensed areas in the world so you can imagine the impact of these targets,” said Ibrahim.
“It is also such a closed zone the chances of hitting civilians gets very high as Palestinians can tell you from previous wars,” she added.
PODCAST: The Take – In Sheikh Jarrah, Palestinians confront the city’s future
What started out as protests against forced expulsions in a Palestinian neighbourhood has turned into an Israeli crackdown that has engulfed much of occupied East Jerusalem, including holy sites like Al-Aqsa Mosque.
But Sheikh Jarrah is just one neighbourhood, and displacements are unfolding across the occupied territories.
As the reverberations in Sheikh Jarrah spread beyond, how will it affect the future of Palestinians in Jerusalem?
Listen to Al Jazeera’s podcast The Take, with our host, Malika Bilal.
‘Take a step back’: UK minister
Britain’s minister for the Middle East has urged “both sides to take a step back” from the brink of what he described as a terrible escalation.
“We have seen, however, an unprecedented level of rocket attack into Israel,” James Cleverly, a junior foreign minister who deals with the Middle East and North Africa, told Sky News. “We want to see the rocket attacks stop.”
Preparing for ‘multiple scenarios’: Israel military
Israel’s military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said attacks on Gaza will continue as Israel prepares for “multiple scenarios”.
“We have ground units that are prepared and are in various stages of preparing ground operations,” he told reporters on Thursday.
Muslims perform Eid al-Fitr prayers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP]
Eid prayers
Hundreds of worshippers have attended Eid prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, Islam’s third holiest site.
“We in Gaza and all of Palestine do not feel the joy of this Eid because of this devastating aggression carried out by the occupation forces on Gaza and all of Palestine in general,” said Moe’n Ahmad, a resident from Gaza.
Religious leaders called for calm on the day that marks the end of Ramadan for Muslims around the world.
#صور | أداء صلاة الغائب على أرواح شـــهـــ ــداء غزة في المسجد الأقصى المبارك. pic.twitter.com/v0um3AvhWd
— الجرمق (@aljarmaqnet) May 13, 2021
Translation: Performing the absentee prayer for the souls of Gaza martyrs at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Turkey calls on Muslims to take clear stance over Gaza
Muslim countries must show a united and clear stance over Israel’s conflict with the Hamas movement in Gaza, said Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay as he criticised world powers for condemning violence without acting.
“What we desire is that active measures are taken,” Oktay told reporters after morning prayers marking the end of Ramadan.
“There are decisions taken repeatedly at the United Nations, there are condemnations. But unfortunately no result has been obtained, because a clear stance is not displayed.”
Rockets prompt diversion of Tel Aviv flights
All passenger flights to Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv were being diverted to a southern airport amid persistent rocket fire from Gaza, the airport’s authority said.
It said guidelines were in place for passenger planes to land at Ramon Airport near the southern resort city of Eilat from early on Thursday.
