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Israel kills 10 Palestinian civilians, injures 500 in West Bank
A US envoy has arrived in Tel Aviv today for de-escalation talks after some of the worst violence in Israel and Gaza in years erupted earlier this week.
Hady Amr will hold talks with Israeli, Palestinian and UN officials in the hope of agreeing on a ceasefire following days of airstrikes.
It came as unrest between Israel and Palestinian spilled over into the West Bank on Friday, sparking the most widespread protests in years as hundreds of young demonstrators in multiple towns clashed with Israeli troops, who shot and killed at least 11 people.
Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip continued into early Saturday, when an airstrike on a house in Gaza City killed at least seven Palestinians – the highest number of fatalities in a single hit.
In recent days, Israeli cities with mixed Arab and Jewish populations have seen daily violence, with mobs from each community clashing and trashing each other’s property.
Palestinian official condemns Biden administration’s ‘silence’ on Israel
The Biden administration’s “silence” on Israel is encouraging war crimes in the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem and the West Bank, a Palestinian government official has warned.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the spokesperson for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, urged on Saturday for US officials to actively intervene to stop Israel’s bombardment of Gaza this week.
“The silence of the US administration regarding what Israel is doing and describing it as self-defence has led to massacres in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem,” Mr Abu Rudeineh said.
“Israel, which is waging a war against the Palestinian people, their land and their holy sites, is dragging the region into a situation that no one can bear the consequences by harming the interests of the region and the world.”
He added that the Palestinian people would “never give up or abandon their land, Jerusalem and the holy sites”.
Conrad Duncan15 May 2021 08:16
‘This feels like civil war’: Israel’s mixed cities become the new front line
Against the backdrop of a potential protracted war in Gaza, violence has flared up between Jewish-Israeli and Arab-Palestinian communities in Israel’s cities.
The clashes are a “war within a war” that threatens to fracture the country further, even if attempts to bring a ceasefire between governing authorities are successful.
Our Middle East correspondent, Bel Trew, has the full story below:
Conrad Duncan15 May 2021 08:01
US envoy arrives in Israel for de-escalation talks
A US envoy has arrived in Tel Aviv for de-escalation talks following continued unrest between Israel and Palestinian groups in recent days.
Hady Amr, the US deputy assistant secretary of state for Israel-Palestinian affairs, will take part in talks with Israeli, Palestinian and UN officials in the hope of agreeing on a ceasefire after days of deadly airstrikes.
The US embassy in Israel said the trip was aimed at reinforcing “the need to work toward a sustainable calm”.
It came after US president Joe Biden gave his support to Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a call on Thursday, arguing that there had “not been a significant overreaction” in the country’s response to rocket attacks by Hamas.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council is preparing to hold a meeting on Sunday with hopes of bringing an end to the recent violence in the region.
(REUTERS)
Conrad Duncan15 May 2021 07:53
Hello and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage from Israel today.
Conrad Duncan15 May 2021 07:41
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