Hamas Rockets Target Tel Aviv After Israeli Strikes Flatten Gaza Tower

Tel Aviv, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th May, 2021 ) :Palestinian militants Hamas fired a barrage of rockets at Israel's economic hub Tel Aviv on Tuesday in retaliation for an Israeli strike that destroyed a tower block in Gaza, as the foes traded their heaviest fire for several years.

The sharp escalation, triggered by violence in Jerusalem, has killed at least 32 Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip and three Israelis, and wounded hundreds more.

"This is just the beginning" of Israel's strikes, Defence Minister Benny Gantz warned.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh vowed that "if Israel wants to escalate, we are ready for it." The UN envoy for middle East Peace, Tor Wennesland, warned that Israel and Hamas were "escalating towards a full-scale war".

In the crowded, Israeli-blockaded enclave of Gaza, 10 children and one woman were among those killed since Monday night.

A further 220 people were reported wounded from the ongoing Israeli air strikes, many rescued from the smouldering ruins of buildings.

- Another UN emergency meeting - Diplomatic sources told AFP that Egypt and Qatar, who have mediated past Israeli-Hamas conflicts, were attempting to calm tensions.

But Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told an emergency Arab League meeting that although Cairo had "extensively reached out" to Israel and other countries, "we did not get the necessary response".

The UN Security Council was set to discuss the violence at an emergency meeting on Wednesday.

A previous meeting on Monday ended without a joint statement, with the United States expressing reluctance to adopt a draft statement "at this point".

Large protests were held in solidarity with Palestinians around the world, including in London, as well as in Muslim-majority countries including Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, Tunisia and Turkey.

Five members of a single family were killed by an Israeli strike in northern Gaza on Tuesday, including young brothers Ibrahim and Marwan, who were filling sacks of straw when it hit.

"We were laughing and having fun, when suddenly they began to bomb us, everything around us caught fire," their cousin, also called Ibrahim, told AFP.

"I saw my cousins set alight, and torn into pieces," said the 14-year-old, breaking down in tears.

"Why did they leave me? I would have wanted to die as a martyr like them."