Israel intensifies Gaza bombardment as Trump visits region
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Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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CAIRO - Israeli military strikes killed at least 70 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on May 14, the local health authorities said, in a significant escalation of the bombardment as US President Donald Trump continued his visit to the Middle East.
Medics said most of the dead, including women and children, resulted from a barrage of Israeli air strikes that targeted several houses in the Jabalia area in northern Gaza.
“Some victims are still on the road and under the rubble where rescue and civil emergency teams can’t reach (them),” the health ministry statement said.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment and said it was trying to verify the reports.
Reuters television footage showed residents returning to the ruins of their homes.
Some sifted through the remains of walls and furniture, looking for documents and belongings.
“They fired two rockets, they told us the house of Moqbel (had been hit),” said Mr Hadi Moqbel, who lost relatives in the attack in Jabalia.
“We came running, we saw body parts on the ground, children killed, the woman killed and a baby killed. He was two months old.”
Israeli press reports on May 14 cited security officials as saying they believed Hamas military leader Mohammed Sinwar and other senior officials had been killed in a May 13 strike on what the Israeli military described as a command and control bunker under the European Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis.
There was no confirmation either from the Israeli military or Hamas.
On May 14, witnesses and medics said an Israeli air strike hit a bulldozer that approached the area of the strike at the European Hospital, hurting several people.
Late on May 13, Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-backed militant group in Gaza allied with Hamas, fired rockets towards Israel.
Shortly before Israel hit back, its military issued evacuation orders to residents in the area of Jabalia and nearby Beit Lahiya.
Palestinians hope Mr Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will provide pressure for a reduction of violence.
Hamas on May 12 released Mr Edan Alexander
Speaking in Riyadh on May 13, Mr Trump said more hostages would follow Mr Alexander and that the people of Gaza deserved a better future. The US President is not visiting Israel during his Middle East trip.
Ceasefire efforts have faltered.
Hamas talked to the US and Egyptian and Qatari mediators to arrange the release of Mr Alexander, and Israel has sent a team to Doha to begin a new round of talks.
On May 12, Mr Trump’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Adam Boehler met hostage families in Tel Aviv and said they could now see a better chance of an agreement for their release following the deal over Mr Alexander.
Hamas said on May 14 the continued attacks indicated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to “escalate the aggression and massacres against civilians to undermine those (ceasefire) efforts”.
Israel, however, has blamed Hamas for the continuing war.
The US has presented a plan to reopen humanitarian aid deliveries in Gaza using private contractors.
Israel, which imposed a total blockade of supplies going into Gaza from March 2, has endorsed the plan, but it has been rejected by the UN and international aid agencies.
Israel began its invasion of Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack on communities in southern Israel
The Israeli campaign has killed more than 52,900 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and devastated the small coastal enclave.
It has left Gaza on the brink of famine, aid groups and international agencies say. REUTERS
