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A building in Gaza City associated with Hamas explodes during an Israeli attack
Photo: MAHMUD HAMS / AFP
For five days, the world has been looking at the escalation of violence in the Middle East - an end to the conflict is still not in sight, on the contrary: After the recent attacks by his army on a Hamas tunnel system, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a possible further intensification of the attacks indicated.
“I said we would hit Hamas and the other terrorist organizations very hard.
And that's exactly what we're doing, ”Netanyahu said on Friday after a message from his office.
Israel will do everything possible to restore the security of its citizens, Netanyahu said.
"It's not over yet." Hamas thought it could hide in the tunnel system.
But this did not succeed.
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Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Photo: YUVAL CHEN / AFP
The massive bombing of a Hamas tunnel system on Friday night was the culmination of the violent conflict.
The Israeli army assumes that dozens of Hamas activists - including leading members of the organization - were killed.
Just as many corpses could still be hidden in the ruins of the tunnel system.
According to the Israeli newspaper »Haaretz«, the tunnel network in the Gaza Strip is thousands of kilometers long, and the armed forces call it the »Metro«.
It was built a few years ago to allow attacks on Israel and to provide a refuge and retreat for Hamas.
Did the Israeli army trap Hamas fighters?
The air force and tank cannon attacks lasted 40 minutes.
As the planes prepared for take-off, according to "Haaretz" it looked as if ground troops were getting ready to enter the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army had distributed a corresponding - but ultimately false - report on Twitter, among other things.
As a result, many Hamas fighters went into the tunnels.
Exactly this could have been the aim of the Israeli armed forces, is now suspected in Israel.
Netanyahu's statement can also be interpreted in this way.
The ground troops did not enter the Gaza Strip, but according to »Haaretz« they were ready to open fire on people from the tunnels if necessary.
The news that the army had marched into the Gaza Strip with ground troops attracted worldwide attention before the Israeli army corrected its information.
More than 2000 rockets on Israel
The fighting between the Israeli army and Palestinian militants is the most intense fighting since 2014. As of Monday, Palestinian militants have fired more than 2,000 rockets, according to the Israeli army.
Israel responded with military strikes - the air force and artillery bombed around 750 targets in the Gaza Strip.
More than 122 people have died in the Israeli air strikes in Gaza since Monday, including 31 children.
Israel announced the deaths of nine people, including a six-year-old boy and a soldier.
It is not just the military and Hamas who are increasingly fighting against each other.
Jewish and Arab Israelis also attack each other (read more about this here).
The current conflict flared up during the fasting month of Ramadan.
Police barriers in the old city of Jerusalem were viewed as humiliation by many young Palestinians.
Restrictions on access to the Aqsa Mosque site during Ramadan also contributed to the anger of the Palestinians.
Conflict spreads to the West Bank
There are also clashes between Palestinians and Israeli settlers over evictions in Jerusalem and violent clashes on the Temple Mount (read more about the background to the conflict here.)
Fireballs also rose over Gaza City on Wednesday night.
Several houses were destroyed or badly damaged.
Dozens of rockets were fired again from the Gaza Strip at the southern Israeli coastal cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon as well as in the vicinity of Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
The conflict also spread to the West Bank.
The Israeli-occupied area saw the most violent clashes in 20 years on Friday.
According to a report by the Palestinian Ministry of Health on Friday evening, ten Palestinians were killed in the West Bank by bullets fired by Israeli soldiers.
Around 150 other people were injured in the clashes in the West Bank.
After another rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army stepped up its attacks on the area.
UN Security Council does not meet until Sunday
In view of the escalation, fear of a new Gaza war is growing worldwide.
The federal government emphasized Israel's right to self-defense.
French President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also condemned Hamas' violence on Wednesday.
The UN Security Council also wants to deal with the conflict again.
A meeting initially planned for Friday will now take place on Sunday.
The US had asked for a postponement because diplomatic efforts were ongoing and the planned open session, in Washington's view, could have undermined them.
Russia and Egypt have also announced that they will try to mediate to end the violence.
As the news agency dpa reports, citing Egyptian security circles, Israel has so far rejected a mediation offer from Cairo.
Representatives of Israel had rejected all proposals to broker a ceasefire or a temporary ceasefire, it said.
slü / ulz / dpa / AFP