By Alexander Smith - NBC News
Dozens of Israeli planes launched more than 100 missiles over the Gaza Strip overnight in the second week of violence and hours after President Joe Biden announced that he would support a ceasefire in the conflict.
The Israeli army reported that the 110 guided missiles launched from 62 fighter jets were targeting the "subway", a network of tunnels used by the Islamist movement Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza.
At least 212 people, including 61 children, have died from Israeli attacks in the past week
, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Fifteen Palestinians have died in clashes in the occupied West Bank.
[Such are the days of this Venezuelan trapped in the middle of the conflict in Israel]
During that time,
Hamas has fired some 3,440 rockets from Gaza into Israel, killing 10 Israelis, including two children and a soldier
, according to officials.
Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system intercepts the vast majority of rockets and the population takes refuge in a network of shelters and safe spaces throughout the country.
Although Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday that he supported a ceasefire, he has so far resisted pressure, largely from within his own Democratic Party, to criticize Israel's actions.
"We deserve a normal life": Gaza resident tells how the armed conflict is affecting them
May 17, 202102: 05
The United States previously blocked a United Nations Security Council statement calling for an end to "the Gaza-related crisis" and the protection of civilians.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz thanked the Biden Administration "for correctly preventing the unjust statement by the UN Security Council criticizing Israel's actions in Gaza."
A Palestinian inspects damage to a six-story building destroyed early in the morning by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Tuesday, May 18, 2021.AP Photo / Khalil Hamra
Gantz added that Israel's sole objective was "to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure" and protect its people.
"This criticism of Israel is hypocritical and detrimental to the global fight against terrorism," he concluded.
The United States provides Israel with $ 3.8 billion annually in military aid, equivalent to 20% of Israel's defense budget and nearly three-fifths of the United States' foreign military funding globally.
Long-standing tensions reignited last week after Israeli police raided the compound of Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque while Palestinian worshipers prayed there during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month.
Hamas responded by firing rockets at Israel, which has responded with its own bombing campaign.
[They rescue a 6-year-old girl trapped in the rubble of a bombing in Gaza]
On Tuesday, Israel reported that it hit "several rocket launch sites" targeting Tel Aviv, Ashkelon and other cities.
In addition to the subway tunnel system, Israel said it also shelled the homes of several Hamas commanders, as well as an anti-tank squad and other infrastructure related to the militant group.
Netanyahu declared to the Israelis on Sunday that they should be ready for a long military campaign.
The Israeli army claims that it tries to minimize civilian injuries and deaths, and accuses Hamas of using people as human shields.
The number of civilian victims in this enclave has been high.
A Palestinian inspects the damage to a six-story building that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Tuesday, May 18, 2021.AP Photo / Khalil Hamra
In addition to those killed and injured,
some 2,500 people in Gaza have been made homeless after at least 90 buildings
, including hundreds of housing units, were destroyed, according to a statement from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. (OCHA) issued Monday.
Schools and hospitals have been damaged including those run by international organizations like Doctors without Borders, according to OCHA.
And a high-rise block destroyed by Israeli planes housed the Associated Press and Al Jazeera news organizations.
Hamas has continued to fire rockets, 90% of which have been intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome Air Defense System, according to the country's authorities.
[The Israeli Army launches its deadliest attack in the last week, killing dozens of people in Gaza]
The rockets that have broken through have lit up the skies over cities like Tel Aviv and caused people to flee to underground bomb shelters.
A 5-year-old boy has been among the 10 people killed, as well as an Israeli soldier.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Palestinians in Israel, Jerusalem and the West Bank observed a general strike to protest what activists and human rights groups say is an
apartheid
system
, of which the latest Gaza conflict is just one manifestation.
Israel flatly rejects this claim and accuses Hamas of inciting violence throughout the region.