Hamas sent a heavy barrage of rockets deep into Israel on Thursday, and Israel pounded Gaza with more airstrikes. The relentless escalation of hostilities came as Egyptian negotiators held talks with the two sides, intensifying efforts at mediation.
In a potential escalation on Thursday night, at least three rockets were fired from southern Lebanon towards Israel, an attack that opened a new front in the fighting.
Communal violence
While some rocket attacks reached the Tel Aviv area, there were violent riots with Arab and Jewish mobs rampaging through the streets, savagely beating people and torching cars. Flights have been cancelled or diverted away from the country’s main airport.
Palestinians, meanwhile, sombrely marked the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Thursday as militants fired one barrage of rockets after another and Israel carried out waves of bone-rattling airstrikes.
At least 87 deaths
Gaza’s health ministry said the death toll has climbed to 87 Palestinians, including 18 children and eight women, with 530 people wounded.
The Islamic Jihad group confirmed the deaths of seven militants, while Hamas has acknowledged 13 of its militants killed, including a senior commander.
{{/usCountry}}The Islamic Jihad group confirmed the deaths of seven militants, while Hamas has acknowledged 13 of its militants killed, including a senior commander.
{{/usCountry}}Seven people have been killed in Israel. Among them were a soldier killed by an anti-tank missile and a six-year-old child hit in a rocket attack.
Troops sent to border
Israel deployed additional troops to Gaza’s border on Thursday as the military conflict with Palestinian Islamists raged on. Army tanks shelled the Palestinian enclave and AFP reporters saw troops assembling at the security barrier. But the armed forces maintained a ground offensive was not the primary focus of the three-day-old operation against Palestinian militants.
“We are prepared, and continue to prepare for various scenarios,” army spokesman Jonathan Conricus told AFP, describing a ground offensive as “one scenario”.
ICC warns against crimes
Individuals involved in a new eruption of bloodshed may be targeted by an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation now underway into alleged war crimes in earlier bouts of the conflict, its top prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said.