Live: Israel and Hamas claim victory as fragile ceasefire holds

The Gaza health ministry said it did not record a single death on Tuesday from overnight raids for the first time since Israeli air strikes began on the besieged territory. 

Israel fired a barrage of missiles into Gaza in the early hours of Tuesday, targeting residential buildings in Gaza city with the death toll rising on Monday to 212 Palestinians, including 61 children and 36 women. 

Good morning, 

Here are the latest updates on the unfolding situation, as Palestinians begin a nationwide general strike to protest the rise of violence in Gaza and the rest of historic Palestine. 

- Plumes of smoke were seen rising in Gaza City in the early hours of Tuesday morning after Israel resumed its bombardment of the besieged enclave. 

- Palestinians in the occupied territories and Israel began a general strike on Tuesday. The last time a nationwide general strike was called was in 1936 to oppose the British mandate's policies in Palestine. 

-  The Palestinian health ministry confirmed that Israel destroyed Gaza's only functioning coronavirus testing facility. 

- The UN Security Council is expected to meet on Tuesday after the US blocked a statement condemning Israel's actions in Gaza. 

- Israeli air strikes on Gaza have killed at least 212 Palestinians, including dozens of children, over the past nine days. 

- Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz thanked the Biden administration for blocking a UN Security Council statement condemning the escalating violence in Gaza. 

Israel resumed its bombardment of Gaza on Monday night and the early hours of Tuesday morning, targeting the besieged enclave with more than 50 air strikes, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Israeli air raids targeted farmlands and residential buildings across Gaza, including the northern towns of Beit Lahia and Jabalia.

It is not clear whether the overnight attacks had caused any casualties. The air strikes had decreased in number from the previous two nights. Earlier on Monday, US President Joe Biden, who has been voicing unquestioning support for Israel, had expressed support for a ceasefire without explicitly calling for one.

Israel's war has killed at least 212 Palestinians, including dozens of children, in Gaza over the past nine days.

US Congressman Ro Khanna said in a tweet on Monday that President Joe Biden has the power to end the ongoing Israeli offensive on Gaza with "one phone call".

In an interview with MSNBC earlier on Monday, Khanna issued a harsh rebuke at the administration for not explicitly demanding a ceasefire.

"If the president today calls up Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and says a ceasefire needs to happen, a ceasefire will happen," he said.

US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has called on President Joe Biden's administration to allow the UN Security Council to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Earlier on Monday, Biden voiced "support for a ceasefire" without explicitly calling for an immediate end to the violence.

Washington has been blocking UN efforts to urge a ceasefire, amid growing calls from Democratic lawmakers, including some staunchly pro-Israel legislators, for ending the war.

"I’m troubled by it," Senator Tim Kaine told Politico of Washington's blocking of the UN statement. "I just can’t remember a shooting war where kids are being killed on both sides where the US hasn’t aggressively pushed for a ceasefire."

Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US military, backed efforts to end the fighting in Gaza, saying that it is not in anyone's interest to continue the war.

"My assessment is that you risk broader destabilization and you risk a whole series of negative consequences if the fighting continues," Milley told reporters after a Nato meeting in Brussels.

"So in my view, I think de-escalation is a smart course of action at this point for all parties concerned."

His remarks come after US President Joe Biden expressed support for ceasefire efforts without explicitly calling for an end to the fighting. Washington has been blocking a UN Security Council statement calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Norway, Tunisia and China will raise the ongoing war on Gaza at the UN Security Council for a fourth time at a meeting on Tuesday, Oslo's mission to the international body has said.

Despite its calls for de-escalation, the United States has been blocking a UN statement calling for an immediate ceasefire. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been receiving unquestioning US support since the crisis began, has said repeatedly that the war will take "as long as necessary."

"Norway, Tunisia and China expressed deep concern about the situation in Gaza and the rising number of civilian casualties, and called for an immediate end of hostility, full respect for international law, including international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians, especially children," the countries said in a joint statement on Sunday.

US President Joe Biden's administration conveyed to the Israeli government that it is nearing the end of its ability to resist calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, an unidentified Israeli official told Axios news website.

"An Israeli official said the Biden administration hadn't given Israel a deadline for reaching a ceasefire but had been stressing on Monday that it was reaching the end of its ability to hold back international pressure on Israel over the Gaza operation," Axios reporter Barak Ravid wrote.

The comment comes after the White House said Biden expressed "support for a ceasefire" in a call with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu.

Washington has been blocking a UN Security Council statement calling for a ceasefire, as Netanyahu asserts that Israel's military operation in Gaza will take "as long as necessary."

US President Joe Biden voiced support for ending the war in Gaza during a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, the US administration said.

"The President expressed his support for a ceasefire and discussed US engagement with Egypt and other partners towards that end," the White House said in a statement.

It was the clearest signal of backing an end to the hostilities from Washington since the crisis began. The US had blocked a UN Security Council statement calling for a ceasefire three times over the past week.

Earlier on Monday US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had suggested that Washington would not call for a ceasefire unilaterally.

"In all of these engagements we have made clear that we are prepared to lend our support and good offices to the parties should they seek a cease-fire," Blinken said.

During his call with Netanyahu on Monday - the third since the crisis began - Biden reiterated support for what he calls "Israel's right to defend itself".

"He [Biden] encouraged Israel to make every effort to ensure the protection of innocent civilians," the White House said. "The two leaders discussed progress in Israel’s military operations against Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza."

On Sunday, dozens of lawmakers from Biden's Democratic Party issued their own call for a ceasefire. 

"To prevent any further loss of civilian life and to prevent further escalation of conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territories, we urge an immediate ceasefire," a joint statement by 28 senators said.

Several rockets were fired from south Lebanon towards Israel late on Monday, but they landed on the Lebanese side of the border, the Israeli military said.

"6 rockets were just fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel, all of which fell inside Lebanon," the Israeli army said in a tweet. "In response, our artillery forces fired toward the sources of the launches."

Israeli newspaper Haaretz said residents of the northern Israeli town of Misgav were instructed to stay in their homes after sounds of explosions were heard in the area.

Lebanon's MTV said three rockets were fired from the Arqoub region of south Lebanon towards Israel. Last week, rockets were also launched from south Lebanon, but the Israeli army said they landed in the sea.

The first rocket attack, launched from outside of Tyre, was attributed to a Palestinian armed group based in the refugee camp of Rashidiya near the coastal Lebanese city.

Earlier on Monday, Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported that the Israeli military had fired flares over the Lebanese border town of Mays al-Jabal.

Middle East Eye’s Rakan Abed El Rahman takes viewers on a tour of areas of Gaza bombed by Israel.

Targets include offices belonging to news outlets, family homes and even a graveyard.

Israel’s bombing campaign has killed at least 212 people, including 61 children.

Former CIA chief John Brennan has criticised Israel's bombardment of Gaza, saying that Israeli attacks killing civilians in the besieged enclave "demand international opprobrium".

Before the current crisis began, Brennan - who led the CIA under Barack Obama - had called on US President Joe Biden to pressure Israel to end abuses against Palestinians.

"The Biden administration is dealing with a dizzying array of domestic and international problems but the Palestinian quest for statehood deserves the early engagement of his national security team," Brennan wrote in the New York Times last month.

The United States needs to tell Israeli leaders to cease provocative settlement construction and the sort of oppressive security practices depicted in 'The Present'," he added, referring to an Oscar-nominated short Palestinian film.

Paris Hilton's decision to remove a tweet condemning the killing of Palestinians in Gaza and undo a retweet of a Middle East Eye video of a child breaking down over the bombing of her neighbourhood has raised more than a few eyebrows, especially as the decision remains unexplained.

Meanwhile, Palestinian-heritage model Bella Hadid was the subject of false accusations by an official Israeli account. The @Israel account falsely claimed that the star called for throwing Jewish people into the sea. Hadid made no such comment.

You can read about the incidents in our write-up here.

Israel’s official social media account falsely accused Bella Hadid of wanting to throw Jewish people "into the sea".

Several social media users called on Twitter to take action against the misinformation spread by the account https://t.co/3EAiFXdQi7

— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) May 17, 2021

The Palestinian Ministry of Health has issued a press statement, in which it says 40,000 families have left their home for shelters since the Israeli bombardment of Gaza began on 10 May.

Israel has struck or damaged scores of buildings used as residential dwellings, killing at least 212 people, including 61 children.

Ministry officials say the overcrowding in shelters is likely to encourage the spread of the coronavirus. Earlier, Israel destroyed the besieged territory's only testing laboratory.