Israeli fighter jets continued to pound the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing at least one Palestinian and wounding several more as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defied calls for a de-escalation.
At least 230 Palestinians, including 65 children, have been killed in 11 days of violence.
On the Israeli side, 12 people have been killed.
United States President Joe Biden on Wednesday discussed the events in Gaza with Netanyahu, telling the caretaker leader that he expected “a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire”.
But shortly after Biden’s phone call, Netanyahu said he was “determined” to continue bombarding Gaza until Israel’s “aim is met”.
The UN Security Council’s efforts for a truce between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers remain stalled, meanwhile, with the US continuing to veto action on the issue.
Here are the latest updates:
‘Anticipation’ for Palestinians towards ceasefire: correspondent
Al Jazeera’s correspondent Ramallah Houda Abdel- Hamid reporting from Ramallah said there was an “atmosphere of anticipation” towards a ceasefire and mixed feelings.
“So far we haven’t had any official indication is that the ceasefire is imminent, even though it’s kind of out there,” she said.
“A ceasefire will be welcomed but a lot of Palestinians [are wondering].. what will [we] get out of it, are we going to get the status quo, is nothing going to change?”
‘If there is a hell on earth, it is the lives of children in Gaza’: UN chief
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the UN General Assembly on Thursday that “if there is a hell on earth, it is the lives of children in Gaza”.
Guterres called for an “immediate end” to the fighting and said he was “deeply shocked by the continued air and artillery bombardment” by Israeli forces on Gaza.
He added that the “indiscriminate firing of rockets by Hamas” and other groups towards Israel – which have left 12 dead, including two children – was also “unacceptable”.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres [Carlo Allegri/REUTERS]
Netanyahu under pressure to end Gaza bombardment: correspondent
Reporting from West Jerusalem, Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan said Israeli Prime Minister Benjami Netanyahu was under pressure to bring this escalation of violence to an end.
“It really depends on who you speak to. If you are speaking to people involved in Israeli politics here, they said the PM Benjamin Netanyahu is under a tremendous amount of pressure to bring this to an end. But if you speak to him, or at least listen to his public statements, he says this could go on for as long as absolutely necessary,” Khan reported.
“In fact, just two days ago, he was saying he had options there was deterrence in Gaza or he could conquer Gaza.”
Germany’s Merkel, Palestinian President Abbas back ceasefire efforts
German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke by telephone on Thursday to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas about the current Israeli bombardment of Gaza, with both agreeing to support efforts to reach a ceasefire, Merkel’s spokesman said.
The two leaders “agreed that efforts for a speedy ceasefire should continue to be supported,” Steffen Seibert said in a statement.
“The chancellor underlined Israel’s right to defend itself against rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip.”
Multiple wave of rockets fired into southern Israel: correspondent
Al Jazeera’s correspondent Safwat al-Khalout in Gaza reported that Israeli artillery shelling was intensifying in response to Hamas’ rockets fire into southern Israel.
“Hamas’ military wing says at least five rounds of rockets were fired into southern Israel including Ashkelon and Ashdod [in the past few hours],” he said.
The Israeli Defense forces said they struck two alleged “Hamas terror tunnels” that were under construction.
A Palestinian man sits on a damaged car following Israeli airstrikes on Jabaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, Thursday, May 20, 2021 [Khalil Hamra/AP]
ICUs in hospitals packed: journalist
Gaza journalist Youmna Sayed reported that hospitals in the besieged territory were having a hard time coping due to lack of resources and mounting injuries.
“The ICU units are completely overcrowded. The al-Shifa hospital [main hospital in Gaza] has only 10 beds available and now they extended that 35 beds.” she said, adding that 26 people were brought to the hospital so far on Thursday.
However, with power and electricity shortage, the hospital was “having lots of difficulties in running equipment”, Sayed added.
UNWRA calls for $38m aid for Gaza, occupied territories
The United Nations agency UNRWA appealed for help revealing it needed nearly US $40 mln in order to assist with humanitarian efforts in Gaza and the occupied territories.
🚨 UNRWA requires US$ 38 million to respond to a dramatic intensification in violence in the oPt, incl. an escalation in hostilities leading to massive Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, which began on 10 May, & clashes in the West Bank, incl. East Jerusalem. https://t.co/RA4zYU0yL8
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) May 20, 2021
Human Rights Council to meet next week on Palestinian territories
The UN Human Rights Council will hold a special session on May 27 to address “the grave human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”, the UN body said.
“The special session is being convened per an official request submitted late yesterday jointly by Pakistan, as Coordinator of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the State of Palestine,” it added in a statement.
Gaza doctors recount experiences as war rages
For more than 10 days, Palestinian doctors in the Gaza Strip’s main al-Shifa hospital have been working around the clock to save lives during the Israeli army’s relentless bombardment of the besieged enclave.
Al Jazeera spoke to doctors at the hospital about what it means, physically and emotionally, to work amid a raging conflict.
Doctors at al-Shifa hospital treat patients from all across the Gaza Strip [Ashraf Amra/Al Jazeera]
Norway fund dumps firms linked to occupied West Bank settlements
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, has decided to dump two companies involved in the development of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, citing concerns about potential rights violations.
The fund will divest its holdings in the companies “due to unacceptable risk that the companies contribute to systematic violations of individuals’ rights in situations or war or conflict”, Norway’s central bank said in a statement late Wednesday.
The companies are Shapir Engineering and Industry, a home builder, and Mivne Real Estate, which rents industrial premises in the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel, Norway’s central bank said in a statement late Wednesday.
Gaza officials: Estimated costs of damage $322m
More than 1,335 housing units have been completely or severely demolished in the Gaza Strip [Said Khatib/AFP]
The Government Media Office in Gaza said the material losses the Gaza Strip has suffered during Israel’s current offensive amounts to more than $322m.
At least 184 residential towers, houses, and 33 media centers have been completely demolished, with a loss value of $92 million.
Additionally, more than 1,335 housing units were completely or severely demolished, and about 13,000 were partially damaged.
Israeli soldier wounded in by anti-tank missile
An Israeli soldier has been “lightly wounded” by anti-tank fire from the northern Gaza Strip directed at an empty military bus, according to an Israeli army spokesperson.
According to the army, the soldier was injured by shrapnel while standing near the bus.
Gaza death toll rises to 230
The ministry of health in Gaza said 230 Palestinians have been killed by Israel over the past 11 days, including 65 children and 39 women.
At least 1,710 others have been wounded.
Thousands of dollars raised for Gaza bookstore destroyed in Israeli attack
A Palestinian man holds a book he removed from under the rubble of the Kuhail building which was destroyed in an early morning Israeli airstrike on Gaza City on May 18, 2021 [Mahmud Hams/AFP]
A GoFundMe page that has been set up to help the owner of the Samir Mansour bookshop rebuild his store has raised over $70,000.
The bookshop, destroyed after Israel targeted the Kuhail building in Gaza City on Monday, was known and beloved by many Palestinians. Images of tattered books lay in the street, their covers ruined.
Following the Israeli bombardment of the Kahil building on Al-Thalathini Street, the “Samir Mansour Library” was founded beneath these rubble. The library, which smiled at passers-by and readers and was loved by all, became a relic in the blink of an eye; praise be to Allah 🙏🏼.. https://t.co/unLULbJ2Dd
— Marah Qoud| مَرَحْ قُعُدْ 𓂆 (@QoudMarah) May 19, 2021
Shaaban Aslem, the owner, was interviewed in the aftermath and fought back tears as he said he lost his dream.
“I’ve gone without many meals to make this dream come true,” he said.
Israeli air raid kills disabled man, pregnant wife, child
A brother weeps in front of the corpses at the morgue, where Eyad Salha, a 33-year-old disabled Palestinian man on a wheelchair, killed in his house along with his pregnant wife and their 3-year-old daughter during an Israeli air strike were transported, in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on May 19, 2021 [Said Khatib/AFP]
An Israeli air raid on a Gaza family home has killed a Palestinian man with disabilities, his pregnant wife and their three-year-old daughter, the Gaza health ministry.
Eyad Salha, 33, his pregnant wife of the same age Amani, and their daughter Nagham were getting ready to eat lunch on Wednesday when a missile tore through the seaside building’s facade and destroyed all three rooms in their Deir el-Balah flat, in the central Gaza Strip.
Four children wounded in missile attack in Gaza City
Seven civilians, including four children, were injured in a missile strike on a house belonging to the Isleem family in al-Sabra neighborhood in central Gaza City, local Palestinian agencies reported.
Israeli air attacks continued to target the Gaza Strip, destroying a house in al-Mashtal area northwest of Gaza City.
The Saftawi commercial thoroughfare north of the city has been targeted with a number of missiles. The entrance to the Nuseirat refugee camp was bombed, and a house in al-Bureij refugee camp was targeted.
Israel has also fired dozens of artillery shells towards homes and agricultural lands in the eastern and northern border areas of the Strip.
Israel, Hamas ceasefire could ‘come as early as Friday’, says WSJ
A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas could “come as early as Friday”, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing US and foreign officials involved in the discussions.
Egyptian officials have made headway in negotiations with Hamas’ leadership, the newspaper said, while the Israeli military has privately conceded that it is nearing the completion of its objectives.
An unnamed US official told the WSJ a mechanism was in place for a cease-fire and that the “only issue is timing”.
The official also noted members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another Gaza-based armed group, remained a wild card.
Hamas official predicts a truce ‘within a day or two’
Moussa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas political official, has predicted a ceasefire within days in the Israeli-Gaza escalation.
“I think that the ongoing efforts regarding the ceasefire will succeed,” he told Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen TV. “I expect a ceasefire to be reached within a day or two, and the ceasefire will be on the basis of mutual agreement.”
An Egyptian security source told Reuters the sides had agreed in principle to a ceasefire after help from mediators but details were still being negotiated in secret.
One Palestinian woman killed in Gaza
At least one Palestinian was killed and 13 others were wounded in the latest Israeli air attacks on Gaza, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.
Huda al-Khuzindar, 32, was killed after Israeli warplanes targeted a neighbouring house belonging to the Khawaldeh family in Khan Younis.
A Wafa correspondent in Gaza said Israeli fighters jets carried out a minimum of 30 air raids that targeted roads and homes in Gaza City, Jabalia and Khan Younis.
Smoke billows following an Israeli airstrike at Gaza City on May 20, 2021 [Mohammed Abed/ AFP]
The raids caused “significant destruction” to the Saftawi highway, which links Gaza City to northern areas of the enclave, and damaged power, water and sanitation networks, the agency reported.
Palestinian groups ‘fire 80 rockets overnight’
Palestinian groups in Gaza fired 80 rockets and mortar shells towards southern Israel between 7pm on Wednesday and 7am on Thursday, the Times of Israel reported, citing the Israeli military.
The Israeli air defence system intercepted a majority of the rockets and there were no reports of injuries, according to the website.
The last rocket was launched at 1am local time, it added.
Streaks of light are seen as Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercept rockets launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, as seen from Ashkelon May 19, 2021 [Amir Cohen/ Reuters]
US opposes France’s draft UN resolution
Washington has opposed a proposed UN Security Council resolution, drafted by France, that urged a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, according to the Associated Press news agency.
A spokesperson for the US mission to the UN reiterated Washington’s stance that a public statement could interfere with Biden’s efforts to end the hostilities.
“We’ve been clear and consistent that we are focused on intensive diplomatic efforts under way to bring an end to the violence and that we will not support actions that we believe undermine efforts to de-escalate,” the spokesperson told AP on the condition of anonymity.
Diplomats said the rest of the 15-member body supported the French draft.
US Democrats urge Biden to facilitate Israel-Palestine truce
More than 130 Democratic members of the US House of Representatives called on Biden to “facilitate the immediate cessation of violence” between Israel and Hamas and to “press both sides to quickly negotiate a ceasefire”.
“The alternative is an unfolding human tragedy of unimaginable dimensions,” the letter said.
Alongside over 130 members of Congress, I am urging @POTUS to demand an immediate cease-fire in Israel & Palestine.
No more lives should be lost. pic.twitter.com/jEc2uZcgOS
— Rep. Mark Pocan (@repmarkpocan) May 19, 2021
Several Palestinians wounded in Israeli raids
At least nine Palestinians were wounded in an Israeli attack on a house in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to medics.
Eight others were wounded in an air raid on a residential building in Jabalia in nothern Gaza.
Israel launches dozens of air raids on Gaza
Israel continued to pound the Gaza Strip with airstrikes early on Thursday.
A number of loud explosions rattled the Palestinian territory, with bright orange flashes lighting up the pre-dawn sky.
Israeli warplanes bomb Al-Saftawi street in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/YWsddgskjq
— TIMES OF GAZA (@Timesofgaza) May 20, 2021
