Israel-Palestine conflict: Family of 10 killed in Gaza strike

Gaza City - At least 132 people have been killed in Gaza since Monday, including 32 children and 21 women.

By AFP, Reuters

Published: Sat 15 May 2021, 9:58 AM

Last updated: Sat 15 May 2021, 10:01 AM

A family of 10 were killed early Saturday in an Israeli air strike on the western Gaza Strip, medics in the Palestinian enclave said.

Eight children and two women, all belonging to the Abu Hatab family, were killed in the three-storey building in Shati refugee camp that collapsed following an Israeli strike, medical sources said.

Death toll rises as violence rocks Gaza

Israeli planes renewed air strikes in Gaza early on Saturday and Hamas responded by firing rockets into Israel as their battle entered a fifth night and US and Arab diplomats sought an end to the violence.

The Israeli military said it carried out strikes on a Hamas military intelligence facility and a number of rocket launching sites in northern Gaza.

The Palestinian religious affairs ministry said Israeli planes destroyed a mosque. A military spokesman said the army was checking the report.

Across the border, sirens sounded throughout much of southern Israel, sending residents running for shelter. In the cities of Beersheba and Ashdod buildings were struck by rockets. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

With no sign of an end to the fighting, casualties spread further afield, with Palestinians reporting on Friday 11 killed in the occupied West Bank amid clashes between protesters and Israeli security forces.

At least 132 people have been killed in Gaza since Monday, including 32 children and 21 women, and 950 others wounded, Palestinian medical officials said.

Diplomatic Flurry

Egypt was leading regional efforts to secure a ceasefire. Cairo was pushing for both sides to cease fire from midnight on Friday pending further negotiations, two Egyptian security sources said, with Egypt leaning on Hamas and others, including the United States, trying to reach an agreement with Israel.

The foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan discussed efforts to end the Gaza confrontation and to prevent "provocations" in Jerusalem, Egypt's foreign ministry said.

The United Arab Emirates on Friday called for a ceasefire and negotiations while offering condolences to all victims of the fighting, citing the promise of September accords that made the UAE and Bahrain the first Arab states in a quarter century to establish formal ties with Israel.