Israel-Palestine conflict highlights: Truce calls mount as Israeli-Palestinian conflict rages on

Palestinians across Israel and the occupied territories went on strike in a rare collective action against Israel's policies on Tuesday as Israeli strikes rained down on Gaza and militants fired dozens of rockets from the Hamas-ruled territory. Israel bombarded Gaza with air strikes and Palestinian militants resumed cross-border rocket fire on Tuesday after a brief overnight lull during which the UN sent a small fuel convoy into the enclave, where it says 52,000 people are now displaced.

IDF: IDF strikes command and control centres located in the residences of 12 senior Hamas commanders in the Gaza Strip, used for terror purposes, over the past 24 hours

Earlier today, IDF fighter jets struck command and control centres located within the residences of three additional Hamas commanders in the Gaza Strip: the residence of the Deputy Commander of the Hamas Northern Brigade in Gaza City, Rafa Salman, the residence of a company commander in a Hamas reinforcement battalion in Khan Yunis and the residence of an additional company commander in a Hamas reinforcement battalion in Daraj Tufah.

Five people protesting on the Lebanon-Israel border against airstrikes in Gaza were wounded Tuesday by tear gas canisters and smoke bombs fired by Israeli forces, Lebanese state media said.

(AFP)

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators shouts slogan during a rally to protest against Israel's attacks on Gaza strip, in Ankara, Turkey, on May 17, 2021. Credit: AFP Photo

IDF: IDF strikes terror infrastructure located in three operational apartments belonging to Hamas commanders

A short while ago, IDF fighter jets struck terror infrastructure located in three operational apartments. The operational apartments belonged to Hamas operatives, including those of Ja'adi Cha'alah, company commander in the Hamas 'Al-Farqin' Battalion, Jamal Alaeda, company commander in the Hamas "Northern" Battalion, and Muhammad Shuaf, company commander in the Hamas 'Nuhba' Battalion. The various terror infrastructures were used by the Hamas terror organization for military purposes, while some of them were also used in previous operations.

EU top diplomat urges Israel-Palestinian ceasefire

(AFP)

Israel troops targeted by gunfire in West Bank as Palestinian shot dead

Israeli troops were targeted by gunfire in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, the army said, as the Palestinian health ministry said a man was killed in a separate shooting.

The violence came as Palestinians across the West Bank and in east Jerusalem observed a general strike in support of those under bombardment in the Gaza Strip, with clashes reported throughout the territories.

(AFP)

Truce calls mount as Israel-Palestinian conflict rages on

Israelbombarded Gaza with airstrikes and Palestinian militants resumed cross-border rocket fire on Tuesday after a brief overnight lull during which the UN sent a small fuel convoy into the enclave, where it says 52,000 people are now displaced.

(Reuters)

Palestinian demonstrators take cover amid clashes with Israeli troops at the Hawara checkpoint, south of Nablus city, in the occupied West Bank on May 18, 2021. Credit: AFP Photo

Death toll climbs in Israel-Gaza conflict amid frantic diplomacy

Heavy airstrikes and rocket fire in the Israel-Gaza conflict claimed more lives on both sides Tuesday as tensions flared in Palestinian "day of anger" protests in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

The UN Security Council was to hold an emergency meeting amid a diplomatic push to end the fighting, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Israel would "continue striking at the terrorist targets".

(AFP)

Members of the Palestinian Civil Defense extinguish a fire in a paint warehouse that was hit by an Israeli artillery shell on eastern Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on May 18, 2021. Credit: AFP Photo

EU mulls ways to help defuse Israel-Palestinian fighting

European Union foreign ministers debated Tuesday how to use the 27-nation bloc's political clout to help diplomatic efforts to end the fighting between the Israeli armed forces and Palestinian militants.

The EU has been united in its calls for a cease-fire and the need for a political solution to end the latest conflict -- now in its second week -- but the nations are divided over how best to help. No firm decisions involving threats of sanctions or other measures are likely from the ministers' video-conference.

(AP)

Israel gives US info about Gaza building strike

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Israel has given the United States information about its bombing of a Gaza building housing The Associated Press and other media outlets.

Israel had claimed that Hamas had a military intelligence office in the Gaza building which it levelled in a weekend airstrike. But Israel has not publicly provided any evidence backing up that claim.

(AP)

A strike launched from Gaza on Tuesday wounded 10 people in southern Israel, four of them seriously, Israeli medics reported, as Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers continued to trade attacks.

The projectile attack Tuesday afternoon hit a region in southern Israel, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service. It came as Palestinians across Israel and the occupied territories went on strike in a rare collective action against Israel's policies.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that Washington had received further information about Israel's destruction of a Gaza high-rise that housed the local offices of the Associated Press and Al Jazeera news organisations.

(Reuters)

Two Thai workers were killed in southern Israel Tuesday by rockets fired from Gaza, police said, raising the death toll in Israel to 12 since hostilities surged.

"In the last wave of rockets that landed in the Eshkol region two people were killed," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, identifying the dead as workers from Thailand.

(AFP)

People hold placards as they gather in support of Palestinians amid their ongoing conflict with Israel, outside Israel's Embassy in Madrid, Spain, May 18, 2021. Credit: Reuters Photo

Israel said it had closed a crossing into Gaza shortly after opening it Tuesday to allow in humanitarian goods, after mortars were fired at the area as aid trucks passed through.

Israel had opened the Kerem Shalom crossing to allow in "trucks carrying civil aid donated by international aid organisations to the Gaza Strip," said COGAT, the Israeli military branch responsible for civil affairs in the Palestinian territories.

"After a firing of mortar bombs towards the Kerem Shalom Crossing... it has been decided to stop the entry of the rest of the trucks," the COGAT statement said.

(AFP)

Palestinians across Israel and the occupied territories went on strike in a rare collective action against Israel's policies on Tuesday as Israeli strikes rained down on Gaza and militants fired dozens of rockets from the Hamas-ruled territory.

(PTI)

Ahmed Mosabeh, a 28-year-old Palestinian man with special needs, holds one of several rescue kitten he cares for, next to a destroyed building, after evacuating his home earlier to a safer area due to Israeli air raids in Gaza City, on May 18, 2021

Credit: AFP Photo

Egypt sends medical aid to Gaza after Israeli strikes

Egypt has sent 65 tonnes of medical aid to neighbouring Gaza after a week of Israeli strikes left more than 200 Palestinians dead and hundreds more wounded, health officials said.

(AFP)

No respite from Israel-Gaza fighting as diplomatic efforts intensify

The UN Security Council was to hold an emergency meeting Tuesday amid a diplomatic push to end the devastating conflict between Israel and Gaza's armed groups that has killed more than 220 people, most of them Palestinians.

Israel maintained its heaviest-ever daily rate of bombardment of the blockaded enclave overnight, sending a fireball and a black plume of smoke into the sky following one heavy strike, an AFP journalist reported.

(AFP)

The United Nations on Tuesday welcomed an Israeli decision to open the Kerem Shalom crossing to allow aid into Gaza, and urged the opening of a second location to let in humanitarian workers.

(AFP)

Explained | Are Israel, Hamas committing war crimes in Gaza?

A week into their fourth war, Israel and the Hamas militant group already face allegations of possible war crimes in Gaza. Israel says Hamas is using Palestinian civilians as human shields, while critics say Israel is using disproportionate force.

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Israel Defense Forces: IDF strikes a squad of terrorists during a rocket launching attempt towards Israeli territory

A short while ago, an IDF aircraft struck an Islamic Jihad terror squad in the central Gaza Strip. The squad was struck while preparing to launch rockets towards Israeli territory.

An Israeli airstrike hits a building in Gaza City, Monday, May 17, 2021. The Israeli military unleashed a wave of heavy airstrikes Monday on the Gaza Strip, saying it destroyed 15 kilometres (9 miles) of militant tunnels and the homes of nine Hamas commanders as international diplomats worked to end the weeklong war that has killed hundreds of people. Credit: AP Photo

Macron, Egypt's Sisi, Jordan king to hold talks seeking Mideast ceasefire: France

France's President Emmanuel Macron, his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan's King Abdullah II will hold talks Tuesday aimed at seeking a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, the French presidency said.

(AFP)

More than 52,000 Palestinians displaced in Gaza: UN aid agency

More than 52,000 Palestinians have been displaced by Israeli airstrikes that have destroyed or badly damaged nearly 450 buildings in the Gaza Strip, the UN aid agency said on Tuesday.

(Reuters)

Fresh rocket alarms in several Israeli communities near Gaza

Houses of 12 Hamas commanders in Gaza hit over past day, says IDF

Israel welcomes Greek Foreign Minister

IDF hits Hamas anti-tank missile cell in southern Gaza

Sirens sound in Gaza cover settlements: Palestine Information Centre

After 6 hours of silence, sirens are sounding again in southern Israel: IDF

EU foreign policy chief speaks with Blinken about ending Gaza fighting

Palestinian tried to shoot, throw explosive at troops in Hebron before being shot, says IDF

Hundreds in Indonesia protest against Israel outside US Embassy

Fires break out in the occupied city of Beersheba after rockets were fired from Gaza

Pro-Palestine protests in Yemen

Israel to consider reopening Kerem Shalom crossing with Gaza

Israel’s military and political leadership will hold discussions today to consider a reopening of the Kerem Shalom Crossing into the Gaza Strip, which has been closed since the start of the fighting last Monday.

In light of the closure, Gaza’s sole electrical plant has nearly run out of fuel and the Strip has seen major power cuts throughout the ongoing battle, which have also affected its water supply and sewage treatment.

(Times of Israel)

Palestine prepares for unified clash on 'day of rage'

Residents of Glaf instructed to stay near shelters for fear of missiles

Meretz MK urges government to reach ceasefire in Gaza

IDF reports attempted attack in Hebron; assailant ‘neutralized,’ no Israelis hurt

No respite in Gaza from Israeli strikes, as diplomatic efforts intensify

The UN Security Council was due to hold an emergency meeting Tuesday amid a flurry of urgent diplomacy aimed at stemming hostilities between Israel and armed Palestinian groups that have left over 200 dead.

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Fatah urges West Bank Palestinians to clash with Israeli forces on ‘day of rage’

Along with the general strike called by the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement and the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group have declared a “day of rage,” with the former urging Palestinians to clash with Israeli forces in the West Bank.

(Times of Israel)

Arab-Israeli group hold strike over Gaza fighting, Jerusalem and ethnic unrest in Tira

Israel downs drone approaching the border from Jordan

Israeli forces intercept UAV, says IDF

Israeli Defense Forces issued a statement saying, "Earlier this morning, a UAV approaching the Israeli border in the Emek HaMaayanot area was intercepted after being monitored by the Israeli Air Force. The UAV fragments were collected by security forces."

Watch | Changing infrastructure of the Gaza Strip due to continuous shelling

Jordanian Dental Association to boycott International Dental Conference in UAE

Jordanian Dental Associationdecidesto boycott the International Dental Conference inUAE due to the participation of companies and doctors from Israel

IDF shares details of terror targets struck overnight

An Israeli aircraft bombed a building in the Al-Ramal neighborhood in central Gaza City

Gaza rocket strikes home in southern Israeli community; no injuries

Israeli planes destroy a house in the large town of Absan, east of Khanyounis

Israeli warplanes launch two raids in Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip

IDF says over 150 terrorists killed in Gaza fighting, most from Hamas

Palestinian faction behind Lebanon rocket attack: IDF

IDF says another 15 km of Hamas tunnels destroyed in overnight strikes

The Israel Defense Forces says it destroyed at least 10 multi-barreled rocket launchers in overnight strikes throughout the Gaza Strip

The United States of America has provided Israel with high-precision missiles to kill Palestinian children more accurately: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

Watch | People in Nablus march in support of the Gaza Strip

All you need to know about the Israel-Gaza conflict

As Palestinians and Israelis hunkered down for the second week of an intense conflict, a series of deadly flashpoints have galvanized both sides in a region where the human cost of war is all too familiar.

Read more here

Raids continue on residential buildings near universities in western Gaza

Israeli military planes bomb The Kahil building near the Islamic University in western Gaza

Hamas claims responsibility for rocket fire on Netivot

Egypt aims to restore regional role with Gaza mediation

Egypt is seeking to restore its regional clout by mediating betweenIsraeland Hamas to douse the week-long conflict in Gaza that has cost more than 200 lives. In 2014, Egypt brokered a fragile ceasefire after a devastating weeks-long war between arch-foesIsraeland Hamas, the Islamist group which rules the densely populated Palestinian enclave.

(AFP)

Sirens sounded in southern Israel: IDF

The Chief of General Staff Israel holds conversation with heads of local authorities in south Israel

A short while ago the Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi, held a conversation with the heads of the local authorities in the south, where he updated them on the IDFs actions during operation "Guardian of the Walls", and heard from them about the challenges in the Home Front.. Speaking to the heads of the southern authorities, the Chief of the General Staff said,"Your leadership, and the resilience of the citizens, exhibit great strength."

"When Hamas fired at Jerusalem 8 days ago, what happened as a result wasn't what they expected. Hamas was surprised by our strength, methods and achievements, and they are now suffering severe consequences. This operation will continue as long as necessary," he added

Indian-Americans rally in support of Israel in Chicago

A large number of Indian-Americans in Chicago have come out in support of Israel during its current conflict with the Hamas, which they alleged are indulging in terror attacks against the Jewish community.

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Israeli-Palestinian could draw in regional countries

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has proved once again that it is one of the most intractable conflicts of the world. Worryingly, it is a tinderbox that can flare up anytime and assume vertical escalation within a short period of time, leaving very little time for the international community to arrest the crisis

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Israel-Gaza violence shows few signs of slowing as global diplomacy ramps up

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.

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Erdogan says Biden has 'bloody hands' for backing Israel

Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday said US President Joe Biden had "bloody hands" because of his support for Israel in the raging conflict in the Gaza Strip.

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