Despite various diplomatic efforts to ease five days of fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Israel's air force struck several sites in the strip overnight, while rockets again tore towards the Jewish state. Israeli fighter jets hit targets in central Gaza overnight on Saturday, after a day of unprecedented violence and unrest throughout West Bank.
Overall Palestinian fatalities from strikes on Gaza have reached 126 -- including 31 children -- with 950 injured. Israel meanwhile, is also trying to contain an outbreak of intercommunal violence in the homestead, facing a conflict in the Palestinian territories unlike any in recent history.
The air strikes on Gaza began Monday in response to rocket fire towards Jerusalem from Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups in the enclave.
More than 2,000 rockets have been fired at the Jewish state since Monday, killing nine people, including a child and a soldier, with more than 560 people injured.
Nearly 800 targets were levelled in Israel’s response, including a massive assault Friday on a Hamas tunnel network dug under civilian areas.
Towers and homes were massively hit, forcing Gaza families to seek shelter in schools and mosques, ahead of another possible bombardment.
Several Palestinians took to social media to highlight their plight and the fear in which they live, garnering the sympathy of netizens worldwide.
"All the children are afraid and we are afraid for the children," said Kamal al-Haddad, who fled with his family to a UN-supported school in Gaza City.
The Israeli army also confirmed a hit on a Hamas “operation office” near the centre of Gaza city, with overnight strikes to target what they referred to as “underground launch sites”.
The fighting in Gaza initially erupted following a series of skirmishes and hostilities in the much disputed East Jerusalem, with both Israel and Palestine claiming it to be their capital. Young Palestinian protesters set fire to debris in the area of Shuafat, resulting in the deployment of tear gas by Israeli police personnel.
Meanwhile in West Bank, violence and unrest ensued on Friday with the Palestinian health ministry claiming that 11 people were killed by Israeli fire, and more than 150 wounded, appealing for blood donations and other resources.
While violence on Fridays in the West Bank has been a decades-old tradition in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the latest clashes seem to be more in response to the events unfolding in Jerusalem and Gaza.
It is also to be noted that Israel has been facing an unprecedented wave of intercommunal violence between Arabs and Jews, with synagogues and mosques being set alight. More than 750 people have been arrested in connection to the violence, and many people have been left seriously injured.
The UN Security Council has decided to meet on Sunday to address Gaza and the US secretary for Israel-Palestinian affairs Hady Amr has also arrived in Israel on Friday in efforts for mediation.
Amr will hold talks both with Israeli officials and Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and encourage a "sustainable calm", State Department deputy spokeswoman Jalina Porter said.
But Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to be in no hurry to ease up its campaign.
"I said we'd deliver heavy blows to Hamas and other terror groups, and we're doing that," Netanyahu said. "They're paying and will continue to pay dearly for that. It's not over yet" .
Israel estimates that more than 30 leaders of Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad have been killed.
The UN said 10,000 Gazans had been forced from their homes by the bombardment. The Gazans have been forced to hide in schools and mosques, wondering whether the next airstrike will be the one to claim their life.
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