Israeli forces continued heavy bombardment in Gaza on Wednesday morning after it was launched last night, killing dozens of Palestinians including four children in the region.
Tension started escalating after Israel’s aggression that stemmed from Friday when Jewish forces attacked Palestinians in Al-Aqsa mosque amid anger over forceful eviction of Palestinians from their residencies in Sheikh Jarrah a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem.
Hamas says 130 rockets fired at Israel (10:02PM)
In retaliation of Israeli attacks, Hamas said it fired 130 rockets at Israel, as air raid sirens wailed across Tel Aviv and other parts of the state.
Hamas said in a statement that the attack was a response to Israel’s levelling of the Al-Shorouq tower.
Out of total 130 rockets, six or seven Hamas rockets evaded Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system and landed in Ashkelo while no injury has been reported.
Israel destroys Shorouq tower tower in Gaza (9:11 PM)
Israeli jets targeted the 14-storey Shorouq tower inGaza City. The building, which is located in densely populated area, housed various media officials.
It housed the bureau of the Al-Aqsa television channel, is the third high rise building hit by Israeli fire since the bombing campaign began on Monday, Al Jazeera reported.
Death Toll Reaches 53 (6:00 PM Pakistan Time)
The ministry of health in the Gaza Strip said the number of Palestinians killed has now risen to 53, including 14 children and three women.
Israel carried out hundreds of air raids in Gaza into Wednesday morning, demolishing one multi-story residential building, damaging various others buildings.
Hamas and other Palestinian liberation fighters also fired multiple rockets at Tel Aviv and Beersheba. Six Israelis have also been killed. The Israeli army said that about 1,500 rockets have been fired from Gaza towards various locations in Israel and they have added reinforcements near the enclave’s eastern lands.
https://twitter.com/Abdulbasit11222/status/1392433252669984773
It was the heaviest offensive between Israel and Hamas since a 2014 war in Gaza, and prompted international concern that the situation could lead to full fledge war.
UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland tweeted: “Stop the fire immediately. We’re escalating towards a full scale war. Leaders on all sides have to take the responsibility of de-escalation.
Stop the fire immediately. We’re escalating towards a full scale war. Leaders on all sides have to take the responsibility of deescalation. The cost of war in Gaza is devastating & is being paid by ordinary people. UN is working w/ all sides to restore calm. Stop the violence now
— Tor Wennesland (@TWennesland) May 11, 2021
“The cost of war in Gaza is devastating and is being paid by ordinary people. UN is working with all sides to restore calm. Stop the violence now,” he wrote.
UK PM Borish Johnson urges Israel and Palestinians to step back from brink
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday urged Israel and Palestinians to step back from the brink and for both sides to show restraint.
I am urging Israel and the Palestinians to step back from the brink and for both sides to show restraint. The UK is deeply concerned by the growing violence and civilian casualties and we want to see an urgent de-escalation of tensions.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) May 12, 2021
“The UK is deeply concerned by the growing violence and civilian casualties and we want to see an urgent de-escalation of tensions,” Johnson said on Twitter.
Israel vows to conduct more airstrikes
Israeli defense minister Benny Gantz said there is no specific date to end strikes on the Gaza Strip.
“The IDF [Israeli army] will continue to strike and bring complete silence for the long-term,” he said, speaking from the southern city of Ashkelon.
“In Gaza, towers are falling, factories are collapsing, tunnels are being wiped out and commanders are being assassinated.”
Hamas urges Pakistan to raise voice for Palestinians
Hamas has called for Pakistani to raise their voice against Israel’s brutailities against Palestinian Muslims.
Eyad al-Bozom, spokesperson of Gaza’s Hamas-led Interior Ministry, said that Israeli air raids in the Gaza Strip have demolished all police buildings in the coastal territory.
“Israeli occupation planes launched successive raids that resulted in the destruction of all police headquarters buildings in Gaza City,” he said.
‘We stand with Gaza’: PM Imran Khan shows solidarity with Palestine
Prime Minister Imran Khan took to Twitter on Wednesday to express his support for the Palestinian people and denounce Israel’s massacres. PM Khan has continuously reiterated his support with the innocent Palestinians who have been mercilessly targeted by the Israel.
میں وزیراعظم پاکستان ہوں اور ہم غزہ و فلسطین کے ساتھ کھڑے ہیں۔#WeStandWithGaza #WeStandWithPalestine pic.twitter.com/0Gpb9DxjJG
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) May 12, 2021
The prime minister shared a quote from what seems to be an old Noam Chomsky post on the Palestine-Israel conflict on Twitter.
“You take my water, burn my olive trees, destroy my house, take my job, steal my land, imprison my father, kill my mother, bombard my country, starve us all, humiliate us all, but I am to blame: I shot a rocket back,” reads the statement.
