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| Death toll mounts as Israel-Gaza violence escalates | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Israeli air strikes hit Gaza after rocket fire | Israeli air strikes hit Gaza after rocket fire |
| There have been more casualties in Gaza and Israel, as a heavy exchange of fire between Palestinian militants and the Israeli military continues. | |
| Militants have fired more than 300 rockets towards Israel since Monday night, killing two Israelis. | |
| Israel says it has hit 150 targets in Gaza in response. Health officials say 26 Palestinians have been killed. | |
| The international community has urged both sides to end the escalation, which follows days of unrest in Jerusalem. | |
| The militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, said it was acting to defend Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque from Israeli "aggression and terrorism" after the site, which is holy to Muslims and Jews, saw clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians on Monday that left hundreds injured. | |
| What makes Jerusalem so holy? | What makes Jerusalem so holy? |
| The Israel-Palestinian conflict explained | The Israel-Palestinian conflict explained |
| Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas had "crossed a red line" by firing rockets towards Jerusalem for the first time in years and that Israel would respond "with great force". | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas had "crossed a red line" by firing rockets towards Jerusalem for the first time in years and that Israel would respond "with great force". |
| The Israeli military's Chief of Staff, Lt Gen Aviv Kochavi, warned its forces to prepare for the expansion of the operation in Gaza "with no time limit". | |
| The past few days have seen the worst violence in Jerusalem since 2017. | The past few days have seen the worst violence in Jerusalem since 2017. |
| It followed mounting Palestinian anger over the threatened eviction of families from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem by Jewish settlers, fuelled by a month of altercations between protesters and police in the predominantly Arab part of the city. | It followed mounting Palestinian anger over the threatened eviction of families from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem by Jewish settlers, fuelled by a month of altercations between protesters and police in the predominantly Arab part of the city. |
| The open wound of an unresolved conflict | The open wound of an unresolved conflict |
| The fundamental reason for the renewed violence does not change. It is the open wound of the unresolved conflict between Jews and Arabs that has blighted and ended Palestinian and Israeli lives for generations. | The fundamental reason for the renewed violence does not change. It is the open wound of the unresolved conflict between Jews and Arabs that has blighted and ended Palestinian and Israeli lives for generations. |
| This latest episode has happened because of tension in Jerusalem, the sharpest part of the conflict. The holy sites in the Old City are national as well as religious symbols. Crises affecting them have often ignited violence. | This latest episode has happened because of tension in Jerusalem, the sharpest part of the conflict. The holy sites in the Old City are national as well as religious symbols. Crises affecting them have often ignited violence. |
| The triggers for what has happened this time include heavy-handed Israeli policing of Palestinians during Ramadan and controversial efforts in the Israeli courts to evict Palestinians from their homes. | The triggers for what has happened this time include heavy-handed Israeli policing of Palestinians during Ramadan and controversial efforts in the Israeli courts to evict Palestinians from their homes. |
| But other events could have had the same effect. This was a crisis waiting to happen, in a conflict that, once again, has been left to fester. | But other events could have had the same effect. This was a crisis waiting to happen, in a conflict that, once again, has been left to fester. |
| Leaders on both sides have concentrated on safeguarding their own positions. | Leaders on both sides have concentrated on safeguarding their own positions. |
| The biggest challenge, of making peace, has not been addressed seriously for years. | The biggest challenge, of making peace, has not been addressed seriously for years. |
| What's the latest on the ground? | What's the latest on the ground? |
| The violence did not abate overnight and the sounds of Palestinian rocket fire and Israeli air strikes continued to echo across the region on Tuesday. | |
| At dawn, rockets hit two homes in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. Israeli medics said a 40-year-old man suffered serious injuries. His wife and two children were also hurt. | |
| A barrage of rockets were fired at Israel's southern city of Ashkelon on Tuesday morning | A barrage of rockets were fired at Israel's southern city of Ashkelon on Tuesday morning |
| On Tuesday afternoon, medics said two women were killed in another rocket attack on Ashkelon. | |
| One other person was seriously injured and five more suffered light injuries, they added, bringing the total receiving treatment in hospital to 52. | |
| Hamas said it had fired 137 rockets at the city and nearby Ashdod in only five minutes, and warned that it had "many surprises" prepared if the fighting continued. | |
| Before that latest barrage, the Israeli military said more than 300 rockets had been fired by militants since 18:00 (15:00 GMT) on Monday, and that 90% of them had been intercepted by its Iron Dome missile defence system. | |
| Flames and smoke could be seen in Gaza | Flames and smoke could be seen in Gaza |
| The Israeli military said it had struck 130 "terror targets" in Gaza overnight in response, including two attack tunnels being dug under the border with Israel, a Hamas intelligence facility, and weapons manufacturing and storage sites. | The Israeli military said it had struck 130 "terror targets" in Gaza overnight in response, including two attack tunnels being dug under the border with Israel, a Hamas intelligence facility, and weapons manufacturing and storage sites. |
| Later, the military and the Shin Bet security agency announced that they had also killed the head of Islamic Jihad group's special rocket unit, Samah Abed al-Mamlouk. Islamic Jihad confirmed the deaths of Mamlouk and two other senior figures. | |
| "We intend to continue to hit Hamas and all of their military components because of their blatant aggression against Israel," spokesman Lt Col Jonathan Conricus told the BBC. | "We intend to continue to hit Hamas and all of their military components because of their blatant aggression against Israel," spokesman Lt Col Jonathan Conricus told the BBC. |
| The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza reported that at least 26 Palestinians, including nine children, had been killed in Israeli strikes and more than 120 others had been injured. | |
| Palestinian health officials say children have been killed in Israeli strikes | |
| It said a 59-year-old woman and her disabled son had died in an attack on Tuesday morning. | It said a 59-year-old woman and her disabled son had died in an attack on Tuesday morning. |
| On Monday night, seven members of one family, including three children, died in an explosion in Beit Hanoun. The cause of the blast was not clear. | |
| The Israeli military said at least 15 of those killed had been members of militant groups and that it took precautions to minimise possible harm to civilians. | |
| "We do whatever we can in order to use the most precise munitions against militants and militants only. But the situation is almost impossible on the ground. Hamas and other terrorist organisations are embedding themselves within the civilian population," Lt Col Conricus said. | "We do whatever we can in order to use the most precise munitions against militants and militants only. But the situation is almost impossible on the ground. Hamas and other terrorist organisations are embedding themselves within the civilian population," Lt Col Conricus said. |
| He also said that about 1 in 3 of the rockets fired by militants landed inside Gaza, potentially causing damage and civilian casualties inside the territory. | |
| What's the global reaction? | What's the global reaction? |
| US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Hamas must end the rocket attacks "immediately", adding: "All sides need to de-escalate." | US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Hamas must end the rocket attacks "immediately", adding: "All sides need to de-escalate." |
| White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki echoed those calls, saying US President Joe Biden was seriously concerned about the violence. | White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki echoed those calls, saying US President Joe Biden was seriously concerned about the violence. |
| Ashkelon is in the south of Israel, within range for rockets from Gaza | Ashkelon is in the south of Israel, within range for rockets from Gaza |
| In a tweet, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the rocket attacks "must stop", calling for "an end to targeting of civilian populations". | In a tweet, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the rocket attacks "must stop", calling for "an end to targeting of civilian populations". |
| A spokesman for the EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the "significant upsurge in violence" in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem "needs to stop immediately". | A spokesman for the EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the "significant upsurge in violence" in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem "needs to stop immediately". |
| A spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said it was "deeply concerned" by the escalation. | |
| A key holy site in Jerusalem has been a focal point of confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinians | A key holy site in Jerusalem has been a focal point of confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinians |
| The UN Security Council held an urgent meeting on Monday to discuss the situation but did not issue a statement. | The UN Security Council held an urgent meeting on Monday to discuss the situation but did not issue a statement. |
| A Palestinian official told Reuters news agency that the UN, Egypt and Qatar, which often mediate between Israel and Hamas, were all trying to halt the fighting. | A Palestinian official told Reuters news agency that the UN, Egypt and Qatar, which often mediate between Israel and Hamas, were all trying to halt the fighting. |
| What has caused the violence? | What has caused the violence? |
| The fighting between Israel and Hamas was triggered by days of escalating clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police at a holy hilltop compound in East Jerusalem. | The fighting between Israel and Hamas was triggered by days of escalating clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police at a holy hilltop compound in East Jerusalem. |
| The site is revered by both Muslims, who call it the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), and Jews, for whom it is known as the Temple Mount. Hamas demanded Israel remove police from there and the nearby predominantly Arab district of Sheikh Jarrah, where Palestinian families face eviction by Jewish settlers. Hamas launched rockets when its ultimatum went unheeded. | The site is revered by both Muslims, who call it the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), and Jews, for whom it is known as the Temple Mount. Hamas demanded Israel remove police from there and the nearby predominantly Arab district of Sheikh Jarrah, where Palestinian families face eviction by Jewish settlers. Hamas launched rockets when its ultimatum went unheeded. |
| Why the ancient city of Jerusalem is so important | Why the ancient city of Jerusalem is so important |
| Palestinian anger had already been stoked by weeks of rising tension in East Jerusalem, inflamed by a series of confrontations with police since the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in mid-April. | |
| It was further fuelled by an expected court ruling on the fate of the families in Sheikh Jarrah - ultimately postponed because of the unrest - and Israel's annual celebration on Monday of its capture of East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war, known as Jerusalem Day. | |
| The fate of the city, with its deep religious and national significance to both sides, lies at the heart of the decades-old Israel-Palestinian conflict. Israel in effect annexed East Jerusalem in 1980 and considers the entire city its capital, though this is not recognised by the vast majority of other countries. | |
| Palestinians claim the eastern half of Jerusalem as the capital of a hoped-for state of their own. |