Israel masses combat troops on Gaza border amid rocket fire and air strikes
- Israel steps up Gaza offensive, kills senior Hamas figures
- Putin and UN chief call for end to violence
Israel prepared ground troops along the Gaza border on Thursday and Hamas launched rocket barrages at Tel Aviv as international calls mounted for an end to the region’s fiercest hostilities in years.
One rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave crashed into a building near Israel’s commercial capital of Tel Aviv, injuring five Israelis, police said. Sirens blared in cities across southern Israel, sending thousands running for shelters.
In renewed air strikes on Thursday, Israel destroyed a six-storey residential building in the heart of Gaza City. One man was killed by an Israeli missile fired east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, doctors said.
A wave of violence between Jewish Israelis and the country’s Arab minority also spread in several Israeli cities, with attacks on synagogues and Arab-Jewish fighting in the streets.
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‘Full-scale war’ feared as fighting between Israel and Hamas escalates amid air strikes
At least 83 people have been killed in Gaza since violence escalated on Monday, doctors said, further straining hospitals already under heavy pressure during the Covid-19 pandemic. Seven people have been killed in Israel, its military said.