Israel to continue strikes on Gaza "as long as necessary", says Netanyahu
Several homes were destroyed after Israeli army bombardments on Gaza on May 16, 2021. REUTERS - MOHAMMED SALEM
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The UN Security Council is due to meet this Sunday, May 16, as the exchange of fire between the Gaza Strip and Israel continued overnight.
The Israeli army hit the home of Hamas leader for the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinouar, while the Islamist movement fired rockets again.
On Saturday, a thirteen-story building housing Al-Jazeera media and the American Associated Press agency was bombed by the IDF.
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On the
seventh day of clashes
, dozens of rockets were fired overnight at Israel, including Tel Aviv.
But
most were intercepted
.
For its part, the Israeli army continued its massive airstrikes against the network of tunnels dug by Hamas for military purposes in the Gaza Strip.
But during the night, the Israeli army carried out strikes in the Khan Younès region in southern Gaza, reports our correspondent in Jerusalem,
Christian Brunel
.
It thus destroyed the house of Yahya Sinoua, the Prime Minister of the Hamas government, presented as the head of Hamas by the spokesman for the Israeli army.
The fate of this senior leader is not immediately known.
The IDF spokesman refused to make the slightest prognosis on the duration of the current clashes.
“The
more damage we inflict on Hamas, the longer the period of calm that will follow.
Hamas must regret having fired rockets at Jerusalem last week,
”he contented himself with specifying.
On the side of the Holy City, several rabbis called on the Jewish faithful not to come to pray this evening and tomorrow at the Western Wall, in the old city of Jerusalem, on the occasion of the feast of Shavuot, for fear of new shootings. rockets.
UN Security Council Meeting
In any case, the situation worries more and more the international community.
The UN Security Council is meeting this Sunday to discuss the situation.
And on Saturday, US President
Joe Biden said he was worried about the escalation of violence.
All Israeli commentators believe that Joe Biden issued, for the first time since the beginning of the clashes, a serious warning to Benjamin Netanyahu, on the limits that Israeli operations must have after the destruction of the building in Gaza, which housed
the offices of the US News Agency AP.
According to the Israeli daily
Maariv
, leaders now fear that American pressure will accelerate the end of the attacks in Gaza before all military objectives have been met.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that Israel would continue to strike in the Gaza Strip
for as long as it takes
"and do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties, blaming Hamas for the violent clashes of the past few days. .
"
The party that bears the guilt of this confrontation is not us, it is those who attack us
," said Benjamin Netanyahu.
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