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Palestinian Territories, Chan Junis: Rockets are fired towards Israel in the southern Gaza Strip
Photo: Yousef Mohammed / dpa
After the massive rocket attack by militant Palestinians on the greater Tel Aviv area, Israel's military has stepped up its attacks on people from the Hamas leadership circle.
According to the army, the air force shelled the house of Jihia al-Sinwar, head of the political wing of the radical Islamic Hamas.
It is unclear whether he survived.
The houses of Raed Saad, chief for special operations, and other commanders were also said to have been shot at.
According to the Israeli military, the Palestinian organization Hamas then fired further rockets at Israel on the night of Sunday.
A "heavy hail of rockets" had been fired from the Gaza Strip on central and southern Israel, the army tweeted.
On Saturday, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip had already fired rockets three times in quick succession at the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv.
According to paramedics, a 50-year-old man died in the neighboring town of Ramat Gan when a rocket struck.
According to the Austrian ambassador to Israel, Hannah Liko, the rocket hit not far from the diplomatic mission.
14-story house destroyed
The Israeli air force shortly afterwards destroyed a 14-story high-rise building in the Gaza Strip, in which media companies such as the Associated Press (AP) had their offices.
Hamas also used the building for military purposes, Israel's army justified the attack.
US President Joe Biden expressed concern about "the safety of journalists" in the conflict in a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the attack, according to the White House.
UN General Secretary António Guterres reacted in horror to the Israeli attack.
His spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced in New York that Guterres was "deeply concerned" about the destruction of a high-rise in Gaza City.
He was also "dismayed" by the rising number of civilian casualties, including the deaths of ten members of a family, including children, after an Israeli air strike on the Shati refugee camp in western Gaza.
Security Council meets
Guterres reminded all sides that any arbitrary attack on civil and media structures violated international law.
The UN Security Council dealt with the newly flared conflict for the third time on Sunday afternoon.
Despite attempts at international mediation, the worst escalation of violence in years between Israel and the Palestinians has been going on for days.
The Israeli army has attacked around 800 targets in the Gaza Strip since Monday.
For their part, radical Palestinians fired more than 2,000 rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip.
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, 145 people have been killed and 1,100 injured since then.
As the rescue service Magen David Adom announced, the rocket fire in Israel over the past few days killed ten people and injured 636.
An understanding is not in sight.
Israel is clearly betting on weakening the Palestinian fighters on a lasting basis before the army slows down its attacks.
And Hamas, classified by Israel, the US and the EU as a terrorist organization, is not thinking of stopping the rocket fire.
The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians had come to a head during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and after the cancellation of the Palestinian parliamentary elections.
Police barriers in the old city of Jerusalem, which many young Palestinians perceived as humiliation, are also considered to be the trigger.
In addition, there were clashes between Palestinians and Israeli settlers in the Sheikh Jarrah district of Jerusalem because of the threat of evictions and violent clashes on the Temple Mount.
jpz / dpa / AFP / AP
