Live: Israel and Hamas claim victory as fragile ceasefire holds
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Footage published by the Israeli public broadcaster Kan appears to show a mob of youths breaking windows and trashing a Palestinian-owned ice cream store during a riot in the city of Bat Yam, just south of Tel Aviv.
In additional videos, dozens of men were filmed throwing stones at other Palestinian-owned businesses and attacking Palestinian passers-by while waving Israeli flags.
מהומות גם בבת ים: צעירים מנפצים סניף של חנות גלידה בעיר שנמצאת בבעלות ערבית@daniel_elazar pic.twitter.com/q94u6NvsZT
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 12, 2021
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday evening, with Washington's top diplomat affirming Israel's "right to defend itself."
Missing from the Likud leader's summary of the conversation, however, is Blinken's request for de-escalation and for Palestinians "to be able to live in safety and security."
I spoke with @IsraeliPM today about the ongoing situation in Israel including rocket fire emanating from the Gaza Strip targeting Israeli civilians. Israel has the right to defend itself. Palestinians need to be able to live in safety and security. It’s vital now to deescalate.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) May 12, 2021
Prime Minister Benjamin spoke by telephone with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The Prime Minister thanked him for the American support of Israel's right to self-defense, which the Secretary reiterated during the call.
— PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) May 12, 2021
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has raised concerns over the escalating situation in Jerusalem and Gaza.
In a statement, Blinken said he would be sending Hady Amr, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State to the region immediately, in order to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
“The United States remains committed to a two-state solution. This violence takes us further away from that goal. We fully support Israel’s legitimate right to defend itself,” the statement read.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz is reporting that a six-year-old child is in critical condition after a rocket struck a home in the city of Sderot, two miles from the border with Israel. Two others were wounded, one seriously and one moderately.
The rapper Lowkey told Middle East Eye that the British government has a moral and legal duty to ensure it does not sell arms that are later used against Palestinian civilians.
In an interview that took place on Sunday, he said the UK has a track record of supplying arms to Israel despite its violations against civilians.
"What we saw in 2014 right after the massacre in Shuja’iyya, right after the Israeli war in Gaza that took over 2,000 lives, many of them children the British government signed an arms deal. The Business Secretary at that time, Vince Cable, rubber-stamped it directly," the rapper said.
Activist and rapper @Lowkey0nline talks to MEE about why the UK must ends its arms supply to Israel, and why people need to speak more freely about the cost of Zionism for Palestinian lives. pic.twitter.com/Zq1hxlvxR3
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) May 12, 2021
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld has told Middle East Eye that "a strategic decision" had been made to enact a curfew in the city of Lod between 8pm and 4am, local time (5pm-1am GMT).
The Wednesday curfew comes after a state of emergency was announced in the area, a mixed Jewish-Palestinian town south of Tel Aviv, on Tuesday evening.
"People are not allowed to be in public places, people are not allowed to leave the house, people are not allowed to enter the city," Rosenfeld said.
#BREAKING: Israel orders curfew in Lod after crackdown on Palestinian protesters https://t.co/EISl8qzBGr pic.twitter.com/O9ch44LQDt
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) May 12, 2021
Videos from multiple angles show the collapse of the 16-story Al Shorouk tower in the Al-Rimal area, west of Gaza City.
The building in Gaza, which houses local and foreign media outlets as well as shops and apartments, was previously hit by a missile strike during the 2014 Gaza War.
Images shared on Wednesday show at least the partial collapse of the structure, followed by a plume of black smoke and the sound of Israeli warplanes flying overhead.
Middle East Eye's correspondent in Gaza said an Israeli F-16 warplane fired nine missiles towards the building.
Breaking| Israeli warplanes levelled Alshuroq residential tower in #Gaza City. The tower is the home of tens of local and international media offices. #GazaUnderAttack pic.twitter.com/CNHaGAdoAJ
— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) May 12, 2021
The Israeli military has named a soldier killed by an anti-tank missile near Gaza on Wednesday as Omer Tabib of the Nahal Brigade.
Earlier, news outlets had reported that the soldier was killed by a Kornet missile fired by members of the Qassam brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, which controls the Gaza Strip. The reports also said that three other soldiers were seriously wounded in the same attack.
IDF combat soldier Staff Sgt. Omer Tabib of the Nahal Brigade, was killed this morning by an Anti-Tank missile fired by Hamas from Gaza into Israel. He was 21 years old.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 12, 2021
May his memory be a blessing. pic.twitter.com/M3b3KXw4sP
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld announced that a curfew has been enacted in Lod between 8pm to 4am, local time (5pm-1am GMT), calling it "a strategic decision".
"People are not allowed to be in public places, people are not allowed to leave the house, people are not allowed to enter the city," he said in a statement to journalists on Wednesday.
Hundreds of border police officers - usually deployed in the occupied West Bank - have been mobilised in the area, Rosenfeld said.
"At the same [time], police call upon the public to be aware of the threat of the rocket attacks and to listen to all orders given when going into safe zones and safe areas," he continued.
Earlier on Wednesday Israel's President Reuven Rivlin accused what he called a "bloodthirsty Arab mob" in Lod of "pogrom". Lod is a mixed Jewish-Palestinian town south of Tel Aviv.
Chevron, a US-owned energy corporation, has shut down the Tamar natural gas platform off the Israeli coast at the instruction of the country’s energy ministry, the company said on Wednesday.
The shutdown comes at the instruction of Israel's energy ministry, according to a statement from Chevron.
"In accordance with instructions received from the Ministry of Energy, we have shut-in and depressurised the Tamar Platform," it said.
Israel said its energy needs would continue to be met.
A pipeline belonging to an Israeli state-owned energy company was hit in a rocket attack from Gaza late on Tuesday.
Israeli air strikes this week have killed 56 Palestinians, including 14 children and five women, in the besieged Gaza Strip as of 5pm local time (2pm GMT) on Wednesday, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
Another 335 Palestinians have been reportedly injured in the blockaded enclave.
Five people have reportedly been killed in Israel by rockets fired from Gaza, while two Palestinians were killed overnight during Israeli army raids in the occupied West Bank.
The Hamas movement has confirmed the death of its Gaza City commander, Bassem Issa, reportedly the highest-ranking military figure in Hamas to be killed by Israel since its 2014 offensive on the enclave.
Issa was killed on Wednesday, the movement said, along with "other leaders and warriors".
"Thousands of leaders and soldiers will follow in their footsteps," a Hamas spokesperson said.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Israeli army announced that it had also killed Hassan Kaogi, head of the Hamas military intelligence security department, and his deputy, Wail Issa, head of Hamas' military intelligence counterespionage department.
The Israeli government has been taking a hardline stance on Palestinian citizens of Israel, especially in the mixed Jewish-Palestinian town of Lod south of Tel Aviv, where Palestinians have taken to the streets in solidarity with Jerusalem and Gaza.
Confrontations erupted overnight in Lod between Palestinians and Jewish-Israelis in Lod, with cars and buildings burnt, and at least one synagogue torched.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin called the events on Tuesday in Lod a “pogrom” carried out by "a bloodthirsty Arab mob".
Israeli security officials have said they reassigned 16 border police battalions from the occupied West Bank to Lod and other towns in Israel, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a “state of emergency” in Lod.
Palestinian citizens of Israel constitute around 20 percent of the country’s population, and are subjected to a number of discriminatory laws compared to Jewish-Israelis. Palestinian-majority towns and villages have long complained of being neglected and underserved by the state.
Israeli air strikes have killed 53 Palestinians, including 14 children and three women, in the besieged Gaza Strip as of 3pm local time (12pm GMT) on Wednesday, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
Another 320 Palestinians have been reportedly injured in the blockaded enclave.
Five people have reportedly been killed in Israel by rockets fired from Gaza, while two Palestinians were killed overnight during Israeli army raids in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip took stock of the extent of the damage caused by Israeli air strikes overnight, with some residential buildings heavily damaged.
