Netanyahu rejects Hamas ceasefire plea after nine of their commanders were 'neutralised', as Israel prepares for possible Gaza ground invasion and warns: 'We will not stop'
Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a peace offering from Hamas as Israel today pressed ahead with fierce bombardments on the Gaza Strip and readied plans for a possible ground invasion.
More than 600 air strikes since Monday have levelled Islamist bases and slain nine top commanders including the Hamas intelligence chief, their lead missile designer and their terror boss in Gaza City.
Hamas offered a truce last night via the Russian foreign ministry, requesting ceasefire on a 'mutual basis' after they launched more than 1,000 rockets at densely populated towns and cities, killing seven Israeli civilians.
But Netanyahu has vowed his troops are committed to a long operation which will only 'increase in force' despite international outcry at the growing Palestinian death toll – 83 people have been killed, including 17 children.
'The campaign is still far from over,' a cabinet minister said after last night's meeting with Netanyahu. 'Whatever we don't do now, we will have to do in six months or a year from now.'
He told Israeli news site Ynet: 'When we have hit all our targets and the other side has still not surrendered, we will launch a ground operation even though we do not seek it.'
Plans for the ground invasion were being drafted for approval by Israeli Defence Force Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi later on Thursday, according to the Jerusalem Post. If they get the General's sign off, the plans will be passed on to Netanyahu and his cabinet.
'This will not end in the next few days,' the cabinet minister added. 'Israel will not stop and has no interest in stopping. It is all moving in the right direction. We will act until they admit that opening fire was a mistake, just as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah did after the Second Lebanon War in 2006.'
As Joe Biden and Boris Johnson made appeals for calm yesterday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a forceful partisan condemnation - saying that Israel needed to be taught a 'lesson.'
He told Russia's Vladimir Putin during a phone call of the need for 'the international community to give Israel a strong and deterrent lesson' as he called on the UN to intervene with a 'determined and clear message.'
The appeals fell on deaf ears this morning as Israel and Hamas exchanged cross-border blows throughout the early hours of Thursday - sending Israelis fleeing into air raid shelters, while Palestinians evacuated their apartments.
And after a senior Hamas commander was killed yesterday, the Islamists responded with a volley of rockets into southern Israel which rescue workers said killed a six-year-old boy.
A ball of fire engulfs a tower block in Gaza City early on Thursday morning as Israel presses forward with its campaign against Hamas. 'The campaign is still far from over,' a cabinet minister said after last night's meeting with Netanyahu. 'Whatever we don't do now, we will have to do in six months or a year from now.'
A missile is seen heading for a tower block in Gaza on Wednesday, left; and an explosion rises into the sky in the early hours of this morning, right
A colossal explosion erupts as an Israeli bomb blows apart a Hamas target in Gaza City on Thursday
A sequence of images shows the moment an Israeli missile speeds towards a Hamas target in Gaza City on Thursday
Debris and shrapnel flies through the air as the bomb explodes on a suspected Hamas compound in Gaza City on Thursday
Smoke and fire rises into the sky over Gaza City this afternoon as the relentless shelling of Hamas targets in the Strip continues
Israeli security force members patrol during a night-time curfew following violence in the Arab-Jewish town of Lod on Wednesday night following riots in the city
Israeli Arabs gather next to a mosque during clashes between Jews, Israeli police and Arabs, in the mixed town of Lod, central Israel on Wednesday
Israeli soldiers fire a 155mm self-propelled howitzer towards the Gaza Strip from their position near the southern Israeli city of Sderot on Wednesday
Israeli troops take cover from their bombing position as a 155mm self-propelled howitzer shells the Gaza Strip on Thursday
A column of thick black smoke rises from a compound in Gaza City on Thursday as the Israeli bombing campaign continues undeterred by Hamas peace efforts
An Israeli tank crewman picks up a shell to load into the 155mm self-propelled howitzer during barrages on the Gaza Strip on Thursday
An Israeli JDAM missile plummets towards a compound in Gaza as the bombardments continue on suspected Hamas targets
Six high-ranking commanders and a further five key Hamas figures were 'neutralised' on Wednesday, including Brigadier General Bassem Issa, chief of the Gaza Brigades, and Jamal Zabda, head of the group's rocket unit, according to the IDF.
The IDF say that Hamas is 'losing everything' after they killed their senior leaders and destroyed their government buildings, including banks and other administrative centres in air strikes on 650 targets.
Brigadier General Hidai Zilberman told reporters early Thursday: 'Tonight we started destroying government targets in the Gaza Strip, such as central banks and internal security buildings. Hamas is beginning to discover cracks and there is pressure in the organization, even among the Gaza public who is losing its patience and sees these ruins on the eve of the holiday (of Eid al-Fitr).'
Zilberman said that all options remained on the table and that troops were on standby if there are orders for a ground invasion, they include the Paratroopers Brigade, Golani Infantry Brigade and 7th Armoured Brigade.
Three tower blocks have been levelled in assaults by the Israel Air Force and the Islamists' network of underground tunnels has been decimated by bunker buster bombs.
As well as the nine Hamas commanders, the IDF say they have killed another 60 Hamas officers.
The fighting has sparked violent clashes between Arabs and Jews in Israel, in ugly scenes which have not been witnessed for more than 20 years.
Twenty were injured last night as mobs attacked each other in the central city of Lod which has been the epicentre for the troubles despite a curfew imposed earlier this week and a state of emergency declared by Netanyahu.
Israeli police said two people were shot and wounded while an Israeli Jew was stabbed on his way to the synagogue by a Muslim Arab on Thursday morning despite the deployment of additional security forces.
Dozens of people were arrested there and in other towns across Israel where clashes and rioting broke out.
A Jewish man was left in intensive care after being beaten with metal bars and rocks by an Arab gang in the northern city of Acre.
In Jerusalem, a 25-year-old Arab employee was set upon by a gang of Jews while taking out the rubbish. He was stabbed in the neck and remains in hospital, according to the Israel National News.
In the coastal city of Bat Yam, less than ten miles from Lod, Israeli nationalists attacked an Arab motorist, dragging him from his car and beating him until he was motionless.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, who celebrated a Ramadan 'iftar' meal just weeks ago, on Wednesday condemned what he termed a 'pogrom' by a 'blood-thirsty Arab mob.'
'The sight of the pogroms in Lod and the disturbances across the country by an incited and bloodthirsty Arab mob, injuring people, damaging property and even attacking sacred Jewish spaces is unforgivable,' Rivlin said in a rare strongly-worded statement on Wednesday.
Benjamin Netanyahu called a meeting off his security cabinet last night, telling them he was rejecting a Hamas peace offering which was delivered by the Russian foreign ministry
Nine high-ranking commanders and other senior Hamas figures have been neutralised since Monday, including Brigadier General Bassem Issa and Jamal Zabda, head of the group's rocket unit, according to the Israeli Defence Force (IDF)
Palestinians gather to survey the damage to a wrecked block of apartments on Thursday in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip
The remains of a tower block is seen in Gaza City on Thursday after it was destroyed by Israeli air strikes
An Israeli man checks the damages after a rocket attack from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva, on Thursday
Palestinians walk home after performing Eid al-Fitr prayers on Thursday amidst debris near the al-Sharouk tower, which housed the bureau of the Al-Aqsa television channel in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip
Netanyahu warned that he was prepared to use an 'iron fist if necessary' to calm the violence.
Yesterday Mr Johnson tweeted a plea for Israel and Hamas to 'step back from the brink' and 'show restraint'.
He added: 'The UK is deeply concerned by the growing violence and civilian casualties and we want to see an urgent de-escalation of tensions.'
His calls were backed up by similar messages from the EU, the US, Russia and Turkey.
British Airways on Thursday joined a raft of other international airlines in cancelling routes to Tel Aviv as the conflict saw no signs of abating.
'The safety and security of our colleagues and customers is always our top priority, and we continue to monitor the situation closely,' British Airways said.
United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines on Wednesday all cancelled flights between the United States and Tel Aviv.
The UN's Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland on Wednesday warned the latest violence was 'escalating towards a full-scale war'. And UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said he was 'gravely concerned' by the ongoing troubles.
Smoke rises following Israeli airstrikes on a building in Gaza City on Thursday after Israeli air strikes that have decimated the Hamas command structure since Monday
Israeli troops kneel down behind mounds of earth as a howitzer pummels the Gaza Strip near Sderot in southern Israel on Thursday
Israeli troops lay down in a field during action outside the town of Sderot in southern Israel during the Gaza bombing campaign
Rockers are launched from the Gaza Strip as the cross-border conflict continues to rage. Many of the Hamas rockets fail and land in their own territory, wounding Palestinian people, the IDF says
Smoke rises in Gaza City on Thursday following a fresh Israeli bombardment of suspected Hamas strongholds in the territory
Palestinian youths take pictures with their smart phones of a huge crater on a main road in Gaza City on Thursday morning after Israeli bombardments throughout the night
Members of Sror family inspect the damage of their apartment in the Israeli town of Petah Tikva after it was struck by a Hamas rocket fired from the Gaza Strip Wednesday night
A Palestinian man looks at the destruction of a building on Thursday hit by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City
Members of Sror family inspect the damage of their apartment after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip overnight, in Petah Tikva, central Israel
A block of flats in the Israeli town of Petah Tikva after it was struck by Hamas rockets overnight
Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired more than 1,000 missiles in the first 48 hours of the conflict which began on Monday, an average of one every three minutes, and has enough to keep the bombardment going for two months.
Israeli military spokesman Lt Col Jonathan Conricus said: 'According to our estimates we're talking about between 20,000 and 30,000 rockets in Gaza today, rockets and mortars.
'We've seen a constant expansion in terms of range and also in terms of the size of the warheads. They have an advanced arsenal of rockets, I think it's on a par with the fire capabilities of a few small European countries.'
While Israel's Iron Dome aerial defence system has intercepted nine out of ten Palestinian rockets, the remainder have killed at least six civilians and injured more than 90. Families in Tel Aviv spent most of yesterday taking cover in underground shelters.
Israel's retaliation has included hundreds of air strikes on Gaza, led by F-35 stealth bombers and Apache attack helicopters, which are understood to have killed 32 and wounded more than 300. Israel says most of the dead were terrorists and insists the children killed were victims of stray Palestinian rockets.
A fire rages at sunrise in Khan Yunish following an Israeli airstrike on targets in the southern Gaza strip, early on May 12, 2021. - Israeli air raids in the Gaza Strip have hit the homes of high-ranking members of the Hamas militant group, the military said Wednesday, with the territory's police headquarters also targeted
Israeli artillery in action as the escalation continues between Israeli army and Hamas at the Gaza Border, Israel, 12 May 2021. At least 70 people have been killed in the conflict, including around 16 children
Pictured: Palestinians leave their neighbourhood to head to a safer location as Israeli warplanes continue air strikes on Gaza Strip, in Gaza City, Gaza on May 12
The UN security council met yesterday to discuss the crisis. The heaviest offensive between Israel and Hamas since a 2014 war in the Hamas-ruled enclave has increased international concern that the situation could spiral out of control.
'Israel has gone crazy,' said a man on a Gaza street, where people ran out of their homes as explosions rocked buildings.
Israel's army on Thursday said it had received a rocket warning in the north of the country, the first time the alert has been given there since hostilities soared between Israel and Palestinians earlier this week.
The approximately 1,500 rockets fired from Gaza by Hamas militants since Monday had so far set off warnings in southern and central Israel, but not in the north, the army said.
However in the small hours of Thursday morning, alarms not only sounded in the economic capital Tel Aviv in the middle of the country - where residents rushed to shelters - but also in Jezreel Valley in the north.
There was no immediate word of a rocket strike or casualties in Nahalal, some 62 miles.
Rockets are launched from Gaza City, controlled by the Palestinian Hamas movement, towards Israel on Wednesday night
Men look at rubble in Gaza City on Wednesday as smoke spews from a fresh bombardment by the Israelis
The ruins of buildings which were destroyed in Israeli air strikes amid a flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence, in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday
People gather to look at the damage to an apartment building in the northern Gaza Strip following air strikes on Thursday
Palestinians walk along a destroyed road following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City on Thursday
Since hostilities escalated on Monday evening, Hamas has fired around 1,500 rockets from Gaza into Israeli territory, according to the latest estimate by Israel's army.
The launch of around 350 rockets had failed, while hundreds more were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome air defence system, the army said.
Seven people in Israel have been killed by the onslaught, including a six-year-old and a soldier.
Unrest has been growing in Israel and Gaza in recent weeks following violent confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem and a long-running dispute over the eviction of Palestinian families from East Jerusalem in favour of Jewish settlers.
The UN Security Council held another emergency meeting on Wednesday on worsening hostilities, again without agreeing on a joint statement due to opposition from the United States, Israel's key ally, diplomats said.
According to several sources, 14 of the 15 members of the Council were in favor of adopting a joint declaration aimed at reducing tension.
However, the United States saw the Security Council meeting as a sufficient show of concern, diplomats told AFP on condition of anonymity, and did not think a statement would 'help de-escalate' the situation.
'The United States has been actively engaged in diplomacy behind the scenes with all parties, and across the region, to seek to de-escalate the situation. At this stage, a Council statement would be counterproductive,' said one source familiar with discussions, also speaking anonymously.
A new meeting - this time public - could be held within days, however.
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