GAZA/TEL AVIV: More than a week of fighting between Israel and Hamas showed few signs of abating on Tuesday despite intense U.S. and global diplomacy to stop the region's fiercest hostilities in years.
The Israeli military said late on Monday that Hamas and other Palestinian groups had fired about 3,350 rockets from Gaza - 200 of them on Monday alone - and that Israeli air and artillery strikes had killed at least 130.
Gaza health officials put the Palestinian death toll at 212, including 61 children and 36 women, since hostilities began last week. Ten people have been killed in Israel, including two children.
Amid seemingly fruitless diplomatic efforts to stop the violence, the top U.S. military officer, Army General Mark Milley, warned that the violence could spread.
"My assessment is that you risk broader destabilization and you risk a whole series of negative consequences if the fighting continues," Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters before landing in Brussels on Monday for talks with NATO allies. "It's in no one's interest to continue fighting."
Israeli air strikes on the Palestinian enclave continued overnight. Soon after dawn, missiles struck two buildings in Gaza City, sending plumes of thick smoke into the air.
Fighters in the Strip fired rockets early on Tuesday that set off sirens in southern Israeli cities, sending thousands running for bomb shelters.
There were no immediate reports of injuries on either side.
The overnight rocket fire from Gaza appeared to be less than in previous nights. There was a six-hour lull in rocket fire overnight before they again began being launched at dawn, according to rocket siren information from the Israeli military.
A Reuters correspondent also reported a lull in overnight rocket fire from Gaza, an enclave home to two million Palestinians.
DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS
U.S. President Joe Biden expressed his support for a ceasefire during a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, the White House said in a statement.
But Netanyahu told Israelis earlier that strikes against Palestinian sites and leaders in Gaza would carry on.
"The directive is to continue to strike at terror targets," he said in a televised speech, after meeting with military and intelligence chiefs. "We will continue to act as necessary to restore peace and security to all residents of Israel."
The armed wing of Hamas promised more rockets in return: “The criminal Zionist enemy intensified its bombing of homes and residential apartments in the recent hours, and therefore, we warn the enemy that if it did not stop that immediately, we would resume rocketing Tel Aviv,” said spokesman Abu Ubaida.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged all sides to protect civilians.
Although stressing that Israel had the right to defend itself, Blinken said he had not seen any evidence from Israel about its suggestion that Hamas was operating out of a building housing media outlets - including the U.S.-based Associated Press - which was destroyed in an Israeli missile strike at the weekend.
Hamas denied having offices in the building. "These are false allegations and an attempt to justify the crime of targeting a civilian tower," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.
Egypt and U.N. mediators also stepped up diplomatic efforts, while the U.N. General Assembly will meet to discuss the violence on Thursday.
The Biden administration approved the potential sale of $735 million in precision-guided weapons to Israel, and congressional sources said on Monday that U.S. lawmakers were not expected to object to the deal.
COMMUNAL VIOLENCE
Hamas began its rocket assault last Monday after weeks of tensions over a court case to evict several Palestinian families in East Jerusalem, and in retaliation for Israeli police clashes with Palestinians near the city's al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third-holiest site, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The hostilities between Israel and Hamas-controlled Gaza have been accompanied by an uptick of violence in the West Bank, where the Palestinians have limited self-rule.
There have also been clashes between Israel's Jewish and Arab communities in mixed areas.
Israel's president has warned that tension between Jewish and Arab Israelis could devolve into "civil war".
General strikes are planned for Tuesday in Arab towns within Israel and Palestinian towns in the West Bank, with posts on social media urging solidarity "from the sea to the river."
READ ALSO - Hamas fighter revealed he was trained in Malaysia
Reuters
Tue May 18 2021
Smoke and flames are seen following an Israeli air strike on a building, amid a flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, in Gaza City May 18, 2021. REUTERSpic
Seorang wanita maut jatuh lubang saluran air
Seorang wanita maut selepas terjatuh ke dalam lubang saluran air sedalam dua meter ketika menyertai aktiviti mendaki di Bukit Cherok Tok Kun pada Selasa.
Kerja pembersihan sisa kimia dijalankan pada Selasa
Kerja-kerja pembersihan sisa bahan kimia yang dibuang secara haram di Kawasan Perindustrian Tiong Nam dan Kawasan Perindustrian Tropika, Johor bermula pada Selasa.
Suara Rakyat: Ibu bapa gesa UPSR, PT3 dikembalikan semula
Ibu bapa menggesa supaya Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) dan Pentaksiran Tingkatan Tiga (PT3) dikembalikan secepat mungkin bagi membolehkan penilaian kecenderungan kanak-kanak dibuat dari peringkat awal.
Banjir di Kedah makin memburuk
Situasi banjir di Kedah makin memburuk selepas bilangan mangsa mencecah 1,018 orang mangsa daripada 268 keluarga yang ditempatkan di 11 pusat pemindahan sementara (PPS) di negeri ini.
Ahli GISB dituduh di Mahkamah Putrajaya pada Rabu
Berdasarkan pemakluman kepada media, individu terbabit akan didakwa di bawah Seksyen 506 Kanun Keseksaan di Mahkamah Putrajaya pada Rabu.
523 mangsa ditempatkan di 10 PPS
Seramai 523 mangsa banjir membabitkan 139 keluarga ditempatkan di 10 pusat pemindahan sementara di Pulau Pinang. Daerah Seberang Perai Utara mencatatkan jumlah mangsa banjir tertinggi membabitkan 351 mangsa daripada 87 keluarga.
Mangsa banjir di Kedah terus meningkat, 2,039 orang di PPS
Pertambahan itu direkodkan pada jam 11 malam tadi berbanding jumlah yang dilaporkan pada 8 malam iaitu seramai 1,018 mangsa.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Berita tempatan pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Berikut adalah berita yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang Selasa, 17 September 2024.
Warga emas maut dihempap pokok
Seorang lelaki warga emas maut manakala cucunya cedera apabila dihempap pokok tumbang ketika sedang berkhemah.
Houthi lancar peluru berpandu hipersonik "Palestine 2"
Kumpulan Houthi mendedahkan satu video berdurasi hampir dua minit menunjukkan rakaman pelancaran peluru berpandu hipersonik bernama "Palestine 2".
Ribuan turun ke jalanan Tel Aviv tuntut pembebasan tebusan
Protes besar-besaran telah menuntut pemimpin Israel berbuat lebih banyak bagi memastikan semua tebusan dibebaskan.
Tiada perjanjian gencatan senjata jika tuntutan rakyat Palestin tidak dipatuhi - Hamas
Tuntutan itu termasuk menghentikan perang sepenuhnya dan pengunduran tentera rejim Israel dari Semenanjung Gaza.
Chile campur tangan dalam kes genosid Afrika Selatan terhadap Israel
Chile mengemukakan pengisytiharan campur tangan dalam kes ICJ berhubung Konvensyen Pencegahan dan Hukuman Jenayah Genosid di Gaza.
Gaza kehabisan kebanyakan ubat untuk selamatkan nyawa ketika Israel sasar sektor perubatan
Gaza kini kehabisan kebanyakan ubat untuk menyelamatkan nyawa pesakit ketika Israel terus menyasarkan sektor perubatan Palestin.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Hamas sedia laksana gencatan senjata tanpa syarat tambahan
Rundingan setakat ini gagal mencapai kesepakatan untuk menamatkan perang selama 11 bulan itu.
30 peluru berpandu Hezbollah disasarkan ke Israel
Pertempuran dilaporkan berlaku setiap hari di antara Israel dan Hezbollah sejak 8 Oktober tahun lalu.
Isu Palestin: Pendirian Malaysia konsisten - PM Anwar
Kerajaan dan rakyat Malaysia konsisten dalam menyatakan pendirian dan sokongan tidak berbelah bahagi supaya kekejaman terhadap penduduk Palestine dihentikan.
Israel dedah rakaman serangan terhadap Hamas
Tentera Israel mendedahkan sebuah lagi rakaman yang memaparkan serangan tentera Israel terhadap pejuang Hamas di Gaza pada Ahad.