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Israel strikes Gaza tunnels as truce efforts remain elusive

Published:Tuesday | May 18, 2021 | 12:11 AM
A Palestinian man reacts to the death of his father who was killed by an Israeli airstrike that destroyed the upper floors of a commercial building and caused damage to the nearby Health Ministry and prime health care clinic, in Gaza City, yesterday.
AP
A Palestinian man reacts to the death of his father who was killed by an Israeli airstrike that destroyed the upper floors of a commercial building and caused damage to the nearby Health Ministry and prime health care clinic, in Gaza City, yesterday.

GAZA CITY (AP):

The Israeli military unleashed another heavy wave of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip yesterday, saying it destroyed militant tunnels and the homes of nine Hamas commanders. International diplomacy to end the weeklong war that has killed hundreds appeared to make little headway.

Israel has said it will press on for now with its attacks against Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, and the United States signalled it would not pressure the two sides for a cease-fire.

The latest attacks destroyed the five-storey building housing the Hamas-run Religious Affairs Ministry, a building Israel said housed the main operations centre of Hamas’ internal security forces. Israel also killed a top Gaza leader of Islamic Jihad, another militant group whom the Israeli military blamed for some of the thousands of rocket attacks launched at Israel in recent days. Israel said its strikes destroyed 15 kilometres (9 miles) of tunnels used by militants.

At least 212 Palestinians have been killed in the week of airstrikes, including 61 children and 36 women, with more than 1,400 people wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Ten people in Israel, including a five-year-old boy and a soldier, have been killed in the ongoing rocket attacks launched from civilian areas in Gaza toward civilian areas in Israel.