At least 26 Palestinians including 9 children killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza

The airstrikes were carried out by Israel through Monday night and Tuesday morning, destroying several houses and civilian installations in the densely populated region

May 11, 2021 by Peoples Dispatch
Photo : TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) via Twitter

At least 26 Palestinians, including nine children, were killed and over 100 injured in Israeli air strikes at different locations inside the besieged Gaza strip, the Palestinian health ministry said. The airstrikes were carried out by Israel through Monday night and Tuesday morning, destroying several houses and civilian installations in the densely populated region.   

Israel claimed that the air strikes inside Gaza were mostly on Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s military installations and in retaliation for rockets fired by them on Israeli towns. However, these claims were refuted by social media posts and media footage from the ground which showed the impact of the strikes on civilians, including children. Israel claimed to have hit at least 130 targets inside Gaza. Hamas had given an ultimatum to Israel to stop the ongoing violence and remove its forces from the Al-Aqsa mosque.

On Monday, hundreds of Israeli security forces attacked the Al-Aqsa mosque with stun grenades, tear gas and rubber bullets injuring over 300 Palestinians and arresting several others. Thousands of Palestinians had been on a vigil at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound after a similar Israeli attack on Friday, May 7, and in solidarity with the residents of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, who are facing eviction.

The violence against Palestinians in East Jerusalem continued throughout Monday evening by settler groups and Israeli security forces with footage of arson by settler groups near Al-Aqsa compound reported in the media.

A shocking footage of hundreds of extremist Jewish settlers rejoicing over a fire near the Al-Aqsa compound went viral on social media.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, a total of 788 Palestinians have reportedly been injured across the occupied territories in different Israeli actions in Gaza, Jerusalem and in the West Bank since Monday.

Demonstrations inside Israel

Meanwhile, early on Tuesday, at least one Arab citizen was killed and two were seriously wounded when a Jewish man fired at a demonstration in Lod in central Israel against the violence at al-Aqsa. 

Several other cities in Israel also reported Arab protests on Monday night. Israeli security forces tried to disperse the protesters firing stun grenades and tear gas which led to scores of Arab citizens being injured and dozens getting arrested. In Tel Aviv, the protesters took down the Israeli flag and replaced it with the Palestinian flag.

Similar protests in solidarity against the attacks on Al-Aqsa were held in Nablus, Bethlehem and Ramallah in the occupied West Bank where Israeli security forces used heavy force injuring at least 200, according to Palestinian Red Crescent.

Protests were also held in several West Asian countries including Turkey and Jordan.

On Monday, members of the UN security council, which met to discuss the issue in Palestine, failed to agree on a statement and rather expressed their concern and urged de-escalation of the tensions. The US refused to sign the public statement claiming it may be counterproductive.