Gaza conflict intensifies with rocket barrages and air strikes: Report

At least 83 people have been killed so far

Palestinian militants fired more rockets into Israel’s commercial heartland on Thursday as Israel kept up a punishing bombing campaign in Gaza and massed tanks and troops on the enclave's border.

The four days of cross-border violence showed no sign of abating and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the campaign “will take more time”.

The violence has also spread to mixed communities of Jews and Arabs in Israel, a new front in the long conflict.

Synagogues were attacked and fighting broke out on the streets of some communities, prompting Israel's president to warn of the danger of civil war.

Worried that the region's worst hostilities in years could spiral out of control, the United States is sending an envoy, Hady Amr. Truce efforts by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations have so far offered no sign of progress.

In renewed air strikes on Gaza, Israeli warplanes struck a six-storey residential building that it said belonged to Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Palestinian enclave.

Netanyahu said Israel has struck close to a thousand militant targets in Gaza in total.

At least 83 people have been killed in Gaza since violence escalated on Monday, medics said, further straining hospitals already under heavy pressure during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We are facing Israel and Covid-19. We are in between two enemies,” said Asad Karam, 20, a construction worker, standing beside a road damaged during the air strikes. An electricity pole had collapsed by the road, its wires severed. A Palestinian rocket had earlier crashed into a building near Israel's commercial capital of Tel Aviv, injuring five Israelis, police said. Seven people have been killed in Israel since hostilities began, the Israeli military said.

Biden’s hopes

President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday amid a surge of Israeli-Palestinian violence, which he said he believes is resolving itself.

“My expectation and hope is that this’ll be closing down sooner than later,” Biden told reporters at the White House. “But Israel has a right to defend itself when you have thousands of rockets flying into your territory.”

The most violent clashes between Israel and the Palestinians in years erupted earlier this week, with the militant group Hamas repeatedly firing rockets deep into Israel from the Gaza Strip and the Israeli military responding with air strikes. More than 83 Palestinians have been reported killed in Gaza, and at least six people in Israel.

The bombardments escalated sharply Tuesday evening as Hamas unleashed a massive volley of rockets at metropolitan Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial heartland, and Israel’s south, overwhelming its missile defenses. Netanyahu warned that “Hamas will pay a very heavy price for its aggression,” and a torrent of air strikes followed.

British Airways cancels all flights to Tel Aviv amid conflict

British Airways cancelled its flights to and from Tel Aviv, the latest international carrier to avoid flying to Israel amid conflict there.”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. Reuters