We turn our attention to the recent outbreak of violence between Israel and the Gaza Strip. While people are calling on the governments of both sides to try to quell the unrest, Hamas is now giving Israel a taste of its own medicine, as it launched rockets at Tel Aviv and towards Jerusalem early on Thursday.
Screams and flying debris in Gaza City. People were scrambling to leave as Israeli bombs struck their apartment building Wednesday, shattering windows, and blasting away concrete.
With the region besieged, at least 67 people have been killed in Gaza since the violence began, according to the enclave’s health ministry. Among the dead are 16 children, militants and civilians.
In Gaza, a crowded coastal enclave of 2 million people, there are no air raid sirens or safe houses. Temporary United Nations shelters have come under attack in conflicts that have lasted for several years.
Located in teeming neighbourhoods in Gaza, multiple residential buildings were also targeted by fighter jets from Israel.
Israel’s attempt to blow the Gaza Strip out of the water now has Palestinians furious, and has triggered revenge from Hamas. On early Thursday, Hamas launched rockets and missiles toward Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Despite Hamas taking revenge, Israel vows to keep pummeling the Islamist faction in Gaza.
World powers are now demanding de-escalation of the conflict, with Washington planning to send an envoy for talks with Israel and Palestine. After speaking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden said, “My expectation and hope is this will be closing down sooner and later, but Israel has a right to defend itself.”
Biden also predicted that the hostilities in the region might end soon, but gave no reasons behind his optimism. Meantime, Netanyahu’s office said the Israeli Prime Minister will continue acting to strike at the military capabilities of Hamas and the other terrorist groups active in the Gaza Strip.
The recent outbreak of violence is considered the carbon copy of the 2014 war, as at least two U.S. airlines again cancelled flight to and from the Ben Gurion Airport, the main international airport in Tel Aviv. After a rocket barrage on Tel Aviv, the airport briefly suspended operations.
The familiar spectre of Israel-Gaza violence reared its ugly head when clashes happened in Jerusalem last month during the holy month of Ramadan this year.
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