Israel hammers Gaza with heavy air strikes as attacks to continue ‘full force’, Netanyahu says

Israel hammered the Gaza Strip with air strikes on Monday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signalled the fourth war with the enclave’s Hamas rulers, which has killed more than 200 people so far, would rage on into a second week despite international calls for de-escalation.

Before dawn, in the space of just a few minutes, dozens of Israeli strikes bombarded the crowded coastal Palestinian enclave, according to journalists at the scene and the army. Flames lit up the sky as intense explosions shook Gaza city, sparking widespread power cuts and damaging hundreds of buildings, local authorities said.

In a televised address, Netanyahu said Israel’s attacks were continuing at “full-force” and would “take time”. Israel “wants to levy a heavy price” on the Hamas militant group, he said, flanked by his defence minister and political rival, Benny Gantz, in a show of unity.

Hamas also pressed on, launching rockets from civilian areas in Gaza toward civilian areas in Israel. Some 3,100 rockets have been fired by Palestinian militants since the conflict escalated on May 10 in the heaviest exchange of fire between the rivals in years, sparked by unrest in Jerusalem.

Israel said Hussam Abu Harbeed, Islamic Jihad’s armed commander for north Gaza, was killed in Monday’s air strikes. His death is likely to draw a fierce response from the militant group that is fighting alongside Hamas.