Israel-Gaza conflict rages on, diplomacy yet to gain traction

Israel pummelled Gaza with air strikes and Palestinian militants launched rocket barrages at Tel Aviv and other cities on Saturday, with no sign yet of an end to the worst escalation in years in the region, almost a week into the conflict.

Reuters reported, US and Arab diplomats are seeking to calm the situation. Violence overnight saw militants fire about 200 rockets at cities in Israel, whose planes struck what it said were targets used by Hamas, the Islamist group that runs Gaza.

At least 139 people, including 39 children, have been killed in Gaza since hostilities erupted on Monday, Palestinian medics said.

Israel has reported nine dead, including children.

On Saturday afternoon, al Jazeera meanwhile reported Israel had given a “warning” that it will bomb the building that houses Al Jazeera offices and other international media channels in Gaza City in one hour.

Reuters meanwhile reported that the Israeli bombardment overnight killed more than 15 Palestinians in Gaza, medics said, including a woman and four of her children who died when their house in a refugee camp was hit. Five others died, with others wounded, the medics said.

Israel’s military said about the incident that it had hit an apartment in the Beach refugee camp used by Hamas. It said details of the case were under review.

In Israel, thousands of Israelis ran for shelter. Sirens wailed repeatedly across Tel Aviv on Saturday. One rocket struck a residential building in the commercial hub’s suburb of Ramat Gan, killing one person there, medics said, Reuters reported.

In Gaza, Akram Farouq, 36, dashed out of his home with his family after a neighbour told him they had received a call from an Israeli officer warning that their building would be hit.

“We haven’t slept all night because of the explosions, and now I am out in the street with my wife and children, who are weeping and trembling,” he said.

Israel’s military said its aircraft struck rocket launch sites and apartments belonging to Hamas militants.

Regional and international diplomatic efforts have yet to show any signs of halting hostilities. Egypt, which has been leading regional efforts, sent ambulances across its border with Gaza to bring Palestinian casualties to Egyptian hospitals.

Israel’s military said on Saturday about 2,300 rockets had been fired from Gaza at Israel since Monday, with about 1,000 intercepted by missile defences and 380 falling into the Gaza Strip.