Photos: (L) Rockets are launched from Gaza city, controlled by the Palestinian Hamas movement, in response to an Israeli air strike on a 12-storey building in the city, towards the coastal city of Tel Aviv, on May 11, 2021, (R) Smoke rises from the streets of Gaza after Israeli air strikes were launched amid tit-for-tat strikes against Hamas; Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
The Palestinian militant group Hamas, who are in control of the Gaza Strip, says that two of their top leaders have been killed in Israeli air strikes.
It is stated that Hamas Brigadier General Bassem Issa and Jamal Zabda, head of the group's rocket unit, were both killed in the targeted strikes, that have killed almost 100 Palestinian civilians, including almost 20 children.
There are now widespread fears that Israel plans a full-scale ground invasion of the Gaza Strip and its troops are already amassing on the Gaza border.
Among those targets hit by the air strikes is the 14-storey Al-Sharouk tower, which housed the bureau of the Al-Aqsa television channel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said:
"This is only the beginning."
The recent crisis erupted after Palestinians living in the West Bank in East Jerusalem were forced by a court to give their homes to Israeli Jewish families. This dispute erupted in rioting. Hamas then responded by firing over 1,000 rockets into Israel. Most of these rockets are intercepted by Israeli air-defence systems. Israel then carried out widespread air strikes against Gaza, the largest bombardment since the 2014 Gaza war, in which Israel invaded a small area which is less than 370 square kilometres but houses 2 million Palestinians. The 2014 war claimed over 2,000 lives, almost all Palestinians.
World leaders have called for a de-escalation of the current conflict. US White House press secretary Jen Psaki said:
"[President Biden] will nominated a qualified, experienced ambassador to Israel over the coming weeks. Our objective here is de-escalation as we look to protecting people in the region."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he urged:
"Israel and the Palestinians to step back from the brink and for both sides to show restraint."
Hamas controls the Gaza Strip area of Palestine but not the Palestinian West Bank, which is controlled by 'Fatah'. Fatah is a secular Palestinian nationalist organisation incorporating Muslims, Christians and Atheists and was founded out of the militant organisation the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, which was the most prominent Palestinian militant group in decades gone by.
Hamas, founded in 1987, is an Islamic extremist organisation that supports Sharia law. It is also strongly antisemitic and authoritarian. Unlike Fatah, Hamas does not accept that Israel has a right to exist and believes that Palestinians should take back all the land taken from them since the creation of Israel in 1947.
[h/t: Daily Mail]
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