The Israeli bombardments on the Gaza Strip resumed with a vengeance on Monday, May 17, at the end of a black week that left 200 dead in the Palestinian enclave, with no prospect of a truce between Israel and the Hamas movement, which continues its rocket fire.
After a deluge of fire overnight, the Israeli army launched new strikes, while in southern Israel alarm sirens continued to sound to alert rocket fire from Palestinian territory bordering.
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The Qatari Red Crescent said its offices were damaged by a strike.
The Ministry of Health also said its premises had been affected.
In addition, the only Covid-19 laboratory in the Gaza Strip was no longer able to conduct screening tests on Monday after Israel bombed the clinic that housed it, local authorities said.
According to the Ministry of Health, the current strikes do not allow its teams to follow up on people infected with the coronavirus and to continue the vaccination campaign.
3,500 rockets fired by Hamas
The Islamist movement Hamas, in power in the enclave plagued by poverty and under Israeli blockade for nearly 15 years, threatened to fire more rockets in the direction of Tel Aviv if the Israeli air force did
not "
stop
targeting people. civilians ”
.
"We can do nothing other than stay at home, death can happen at any time,"
said Rouba Abou Al-Auf, who lives in Gaza City, the target of several raids.
"The bombings are crazy and do not distinguish between people."
Rescue workers and residents of Gaza attempted to clear rubble and put out fires, including at a foam mattress factory.
Israeli missiles left craters in the roadway in places and severely damaged the power grid.
The army said it targeted underground tunnels and the homes of Hamas commanders, saying some were used to
"store weapons
.
"
Islamic Jihad, the second Palestinian armed group in Gaza, announced the death of Hossam Abu Harbid, one of its commanders.
Hundreds of people attended his funeral.
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Since the start of hostilities on May 10, 200 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including at least 59 children, and more than 1,300 injured, according to a Palestinian report. On Sunday, 42 people, including at least eight children and two doctors, perished, the heaviest daily toll since the start of hostilities. The World Food Program has announced emergency aid for more than 51,000 people in the Palestinian enclave. Some 40,000 residents had to flee their homes, many finding refuge with the UN.
On the Israeli side, 10 people were killed, including a child, and 294 injured after rocket fire. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the population, in particular the inhabitants of southern Israel, to
"limit their activities outside"
. Palestinian armed groups have fired more than 3,350 rockets at Israeli soil since May 10, an unprecedented rate. According to the army, 90% were intercepted by the anti-missile system "Iron Dome".
"Our campaign against terrorist organizations continues at full speed,"
said Benjamin Netanyahu. He ruled that the tower housing the premises of the Qatari channel Al-Jazeera and the Associated Press agency, pulverized on Saturday by a strike, was
"a perfectly legitimate target"
, claiming to rely on information from the intelligence services.
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The new conflict erupted on May 10 with a Hamas rocket barrage on Israel in
"solidarity"
with the hundreds of Palestinian protesters injured in clashes with Israeli police on the Mosque Esplanade in East Jerusalem.
At the origin of the violence, the threat of expulsion of Palestinian families for the benefit of Israeli settlers in this Palestinian sector occupied by Israel for more than 50 years.
Hostilities have spread to the West Bank, where clashes with the IDF have left 19 people dead in a week.
In Israel, tensions remain high in the “mixed” towns, where Israeli Jews and Arabs live. The police are deployed there in force to avoid further abuses. The last major confrontation between Israel and Hamas dates back to the summer of 2014. The 51-day conflict ravaged Gaza and left at least 2,251 dead on the Palestinian side, mostly civilians, and 74 on the Israeli side, almost all soldiers.
