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Israel-Hamas Conflict Escalates
Israeli strikes killed at least 85 Palestinians in Gaza, prompting Hamas to fire rockets at Israel, as the conflict escalated with no end in sight.
May 15th 2021, around 150,000 people attend the March for Palestine protest; they converged at the Israeli Embassy but were blocked and eventually met with resistance by the met Police, Photo by (@Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona) (@Unsplash)
Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes killed at least 85 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Thursday, according to local health officials. The strikes were part of a larger military operation that resumed on Tuesday, shattering a ceasefire that had facilitated the release of over two dozen hostages.
In response to the Israeli strikes, Hamas fired three rockets at Israel without causing casualties. The rockets were intercepted or fell in open areas, and Hamas claimed the attack was targeted at Tel Aviv.
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The Israeli military ordered people to evacuate an area in central Gaza near Khan Younis, saying it would operate there in response to rocket fire from Hamas. The military also restored a blockade on northern Gaza, including Gaza City, and warned residents against using the main highway to enter or leave the north.
Israel's military said Thursday that it killed the head of Hamas' internal security apparatus in an airstrike in Gaza. Israeli ground troops also advanced in Gaza for the first time since the ceasefire took hold in January, seizing part of a corridor separating the northern third of the territory from the south.
The conflict has resulted in significant casualties, with Gaza's Health Ministry reporting that over 592 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since Tuesday. The Indonesian Hospital said it received 19 bodies after strikes in Beit Lahiya, near the border.
The war began in October 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing over 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 49,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, with more than half of those killed being women and children.
US President Donald Trump's administration reiterated its support for Israel on Thursday, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying that Trump had made it clear to Hamas that if they did not release all of the hostages, “there would be all hell to pay.”
Hundreds of Israelis gathered outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem on Thursday to protest his handling of the hostage crisis and his plan to fire the country's head of internal security. Police used a water cannon to disperse the crowd after protesters tried to break through police barricades.
