Turning to the recent outbreak of violence in Israel and Gaza. The Israeli military destroyed the home of Gaza’s top Hamas leader today, after nearly a week of airstrikes on the territory. An Israeli airstrike also destroyed a building that housed The Associated Press office in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian militant group ruling Gaza has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel in response to Israel’s devastating airstrikes.
Still no end in sight in the Israel-Gaza war, as tensions between the two sides boiled over. Israel’s military had its hands full launching rocket attacks on Gaza today, despite U.S. President Joe Biden’s envoy trying to de-escalate tensions.
The Israeli military today struck the homes of Yehiyeh Sinwar, the most senior Hamas leader inside the territory, and his brother Muhammad, another senior Hamas member. Brigadier General Hidai Zilberman confirmed the strike on the top Hamas leader’s house.
Hamas’ upper echelon has gone hiding in Gaza, and it is unlikely any were at home at the time of the airstrikes.
At least 153 people have been killed in Gaza since Monday, including 42 children. In Israel, 10 people have reportedly died, including two children. Some of them were victims of Israeli airstrikes, while some others were killed by artillery shells.
The Israeli military is trying to devastate every nook and cranny of Gaza, as Israeli warplanes continued to strike several buildings and roads in central Gaza City.
Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike on Saturday destroyed a high-rise building that housed The Associated Press office in the Gaza Strip, despite repeated urgent calls from the news agency to the Israeli military to halt the attack. 12 AP staffers and freelancers were working and resting in the office on Saturday afternoon when the Israeli military gave people inside the building a call, asking them to evacuate within an hour. Three heavy missiles struck the 12-story building after everyone had left. Press-freedom organisations condemned the attack, saying the attack was “a day of shame” for press freedom.
World leaders continued to ask both sides to let the dust settle. As did U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who reminded all sides today that any indiscriminate targeting of civilian and media structure violates international law and must be avoided at all costs.
The United Nations is set to hold a meeting later today to discuss and come up with a solution that can stave off having more and more people dying because of the worst outbreak of Israeli-Palestinians violence on record, and can help forge peace in the region.
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