The Latest:
- Gaza death toll reaches 109, including 28 children and 580 injuries, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health; seven Israeli casualties, including one child
- U.S. prevents statement from Security Council
- Israel military heads discuss possible ground invasion
– updated at 10:24 pm GMT
Live Updates:
(Update) Israel attacking Gaza from air, sea, and land, but not entering Gaza by land
A tweet this evening from the Israeli military spurred announcements that a ground invasion into Gaza had begun:
Reporters and commentators quickly struck back, calling the headlines inaccurate. The confusion seems to stem from the army’s tweet, which said: “ground troops are currently attacking in the Gaza Strip.” This is factual, although grammatically awkward and confusing. According to correspondents along the border, Israeli forces are firing on the ground into Gaza from posts inside of Israel. Meaning, a ground invasion has not happened at this time.
Still, the attack has been merciless from the air:
-updated 11:11 pm GMT
Israel mulls deploying IDF, arrests without charge, to ‘put down rioters’
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this evening that police and border patrols dispatched throughout the country will be “putting down rioters” and “one needs to use force, a lot of force,” as the nation faces its fiercest waves of protests and confrontations between Palestinians and police, and mob violence in recent years. Invoking a rarely used policy inside of Israel, but commonly practiced in the occupied Palestinian territory, he indicated police would use administrative detention, or indefinite arrest without charges, and promised to protect officers from possible prosecution.
Administrative detention is a hold-over emergency provision dating back to 1945 during the British Mandate.
“We hear whisperings of concern over commissions of inquiry, investigations and checks,” he said. “We will give you all of the tools to defend yourselves, defend the citizens of Israel and prevent disturbances. You have the backing, do not be concerned. This is the first point and I believe the most important.”
The remarks were made at border police headquarters in Lod in a meeting with the heads of security and intelligence, and the attorney general. “The intelligence that we have says that it could very well be that we will have an upsurge of violence here in the coming days,” said Netanyahu. “It could be that blows will be exchanged here.”
Earlier this week Israel activated reserves units and in a rare move, and relocated border police who are typically stationed in the West Bank, to quell groups of Palestinians in Arab cities across Israel on the streets after curfews were imposed. The lockdowns were ordered on the heels of mob violence sparked by an assault on a Palestinian driver in the coastal city of Bat Yam, and then a then attack on a Jewish driver in the northern city of Acre.
Netanyahu added, reservists, will be mobilized “in the coming hours,” and included the “possibility of using IDF soldiers,” to police Arab towns and cities. He then cited Land Day protests in 1976, where the Israeli military killed six un-armed Palestinians demonstrating, a similar circumstance.
“The late Yitzhak Rabin brought in IDF forces on Land Day for disturbances very similar to what we are seeing here,” he said citing the former prime minister who oversaw the decision to police protesters with the army, adding, “We have this right. We have just brought in military forces to help with the lockdowns, to help the police.”
– updated at 8:10 pm GMT
Towers with media offices struck in Gaza
Two high-rise buildings in the Gaza Strip were leveled in Israeli airstrikes over recent days, destroying the offices of 21 media outlets. Reporters Without Borders posted the update today in a statement on journalists injured in Jerusalem while covering tensions around the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a flashpoint of confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli police that set the backdrop for the current escalation.
The group said:
“After Hamas fired rockets at Jerusalem, Israeli airstrikes in the early hours of 12 May destroyed the Al-Jawhara Tower, a 10-storey building in Gaza City that housed 14 media outlets including the Palestine Daily News newspaper and the pan-Arab TV channel Al-Araby.
Yesterday, an Israeli airstrike destroyed Gaza City’s Al-Shorouk Tower, a 14-storey building that housed seven media outlets including the Al-Aqsa radio and TV broadcaster. The Israel Defence Forces said they were “striking Hamas weapons stores hidden inside civilian buildings in Gaza.”
In the hours after the tower was struck, the Israeli army posted to social media that it had targeted weapons stowed “inside civilian buildings in Gaza.”
–updated at 6:11 pm GMT
US blocks Security Council statement on violence
The U.S. reportedly was the lone hold out on what would have been an otherwise unanimous statement from the United Nations Security Council condemning the escalation between Israel and Hamas. Our correspondent Michael Arria reports, “The Council members from Norway, Estonia, France and Ireland ended up releasing their own joint statement on the situation.”
From their statement:
“We condemn the firing of rockets from Gaza against civilian populations in Israel by Hamas and other militant groups which is totally unacceptable and must stop immediately,” it reads. “The large numbers of civilian casualties, including children, from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, and of Israeli fatalities from rockets launched from Gaza, are both worrying and unacceptable.”
A source in Washington told Reuters that the block was motivated by concerns that a Security Council statement could stymie American diplomatic efforts currently underway to seek de-escalation “behind the scenes.”
Yesterday Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters, “I’ve asked Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Hady Amr to go to the region immediately to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. He will bring to bear his decades of experience and, in particular, he will urge on my behalf and on behalf of President Biden a de-escalation of violence. We are very focused on this.”
Since Monday Israel has hit 350 sites in Gaza in airstrikes, and the Israeli military said Hamas launched 1,500 rockets from Gaza. The AP reports, “That is roughly one-third the number fired during the entire 2014 war.”
–updated at 4:43 pm GMT
Israel prepares for ground invasion of Gaza
But Haaretz reports that the Israeli military may want to end fighting in Gaza as soon due to the resistance shown by Palestinian citizens of Israel:
The Israeli military is preparing for an order to end Gaza cross-border fighting as soon as possible, citing the threat of Jewish-Arab clashes across the country spiraling out of control.
Awaiting the government’s orders, the military is preparing to ramp up the strikes on the Gaza Strip in order to bring the round of violence, which began on Monday and escalated throughout the week, to an end.
In recent discussions by Israel’s top defense officials, they assessed the violence in Lod, Bat Yam, Acre and other cities pose a security threat that is no less grave than the Gaza fighting.
The prospect of a ground invasion follows an Egyptian attempt to broker a ceasefire with mediators holding talks in Gaza and Tel Aviv Wednesday. The AP reports today, these discussions “have been key to ending past rounds of fighting,” but did not succeed in stalling hostilities.
–updated at 2:02 pm GMT
Shocking videos emerge of Jewish mobs attacking and lynching Palestinians throughout Israel
Over the last 24 hours Jewish mobs have been on the rampage throughout Israel attacking Palestinians in public and even in their homes. Several videos of these attacks have gone viral on social media.
–updated at 1:55 pm GMT
UN estimates 1,750 displaced, 350 houses destroyed in airstrikes
The United Nation’s humanitarian coordinator office OCHA released a flash update today with an early assessment of the damage done to infrastructure in Gaza over the past few days.
“The Hanadi Building in Gaza city, a 14-storey structure containing residential and office units, was destroyed, and three other multi-storey buildings in the city were hit and severely damaged. Over 350 housing units have been destroyed or damaged, and hundreds of others have sustained moderate damages. Numerous families have been displaced, with an estimated 1,750 people affected.
Seven factories, eight schools and a health centre have also been damaged by Israeli airstrikes and shortfalls of Hamas launched rockets. In addition, scores of military sites, police and security facilities, as well as open areas, have been hit, with the police headquarters in Gaza city destroyed. Generally, the population is fearful and many in a state of panic and hostilities continue at high intensity. Street, markets and shops remain closed and traffic is limited to emergency teams.”
The Israeli military has said around 1,500 rockets were fired from Gaza over the past week.
–updated at 1:50 pm GMT
Previous Reports:
- Live blog: Israel kills two Palestinians in West Bank raids, Gaza death toll rises as airstrikes continue (May 12, 2021)
- Live blog: Israel levels apartment buildings, dozens dead in Gaza as Netanyahu government vows to step up strikes (May 11, 2021)
- Israel kills 20 Palestinians in Gaza, injures hundreds in Jerusalem as Al-Aqsa tensions flare (May 10, 2021)
- Hundreds injured as Israeli forces attack Palestinian worshipers in Jerusalem (May 8, 2021)
This delay is Biden,s way of helping his buddy yahoo by giving him a few extra days to strike fear into the people of Gaza.
That doesn,t work Joe.stop molly coddling the Zionist entity and do what is right.Call Israel out .It is not as if you are going to run for a 2nd term.
Wouldn,t fancy your chances if you p-ss of the progressives by preventing a UNSC Statement.
Israel attacks Palestine, then when Palestine fights back Israel cries out that it has a right to defend itself.Did Nazi Germany have a right to defend itself? Because that’s where Israel is right now.
So, overnight in Gaza more Zionist lies (the IOF ground troopers are in , no they are not, …) murder of innocents in Gaza, arrests of East Jerusalemites who are suspects in fueling the violence, precision strikes only against Hamas and ‘tunnels’ intensified. From what I gather 119 people have perished~ including many more children and many women. Nope, this ain’t against Hamas~ it’s against an imprisoned population. It’s genocide. I watched the US media~ nada~ leading or mentioned thus far!!!!! It’s all about masks and Liz Cheney. No mention of the provocation in Jerusalem by the Zionist terrorists who thought it lovely to storm Al- Aqsa in Al- Quds during Ramadan and enter the Mosque with their filthy boots and super weapons. Meanwhile, I have said before and I will say it again: Netanyahu and his allegiances with his devils engineered this because he is a LOSER, and that is the only way he could hold on to power. It had to happen during Ramadan, just like in 2014. Where the hell is Jordan, etc.?
The others~ Russia, the US, the EU have no presence or standing, imho. They have plenty of blame, but come on! The other peeve that I must profess is that why are Palestinian citizens of Israel always referred to as Arabs????? Enough. One more thing… how in the hell can the already destroyed by Zionist Gaza health care system deal with this?