加沙城，加沙地带——以色列对加沙地带进行了猛烈的空袭，空袭急剧升级，包括轰炸一名哈马斯高级领导人的家，杀害了难民营中的10口之家——其中大多数是儿童——并粉碎了美联社和其他媒体所在的一栋高层建筑。
哈马斯激进组织继续向以色列发射火箭弹，包括深夜对特拉维夫的炮击。周六，一枚火箭击中了一名男子在海滨大都市郊区的家，造成一名男子死亡。
在一名美国特使在场的情况下，在经历了五天的混乱之后，要求停火的呼声越来越高。五天的混乱导致加沙至少145名巴勒斯坦人死亡，其中包括41名儿童和23名妇女，以色列方面有8人死亡，除了一名平民，包括一名5岁的儿童。乔·拜登总统呼吁缓和紧张局势，但支持以色列的竞选活动，他分别与以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡和巴勒斯坦总统马哈茂德·阿巴斯通了电话。
尽管如此，以色列还是加强了进攻，发誓要粉碎加沙哈马斯统治者的能力。周一，哈马斯火箭引发了为期一周的致命暴力事件，此前几周，以色列在有争议的耶路撒冷采取了日益加剧的紧张局势和高压措施。
周日早些时候，以色列战机袭击了加沙市重要部分的几栋建筑和道路。居民和记者流传的照片显示，空袭造成了一个弹坑，堵塞了通往加沙地带最大医院希法的一条主要道路。
卫生部表示，最近的空袭造成至少两人死亡，25人受伤，包括儿童和妇女。以色列军方没有立即发表评论。
周六，以色列轰炸了哈马斯政治部门高级官员哈利勒·哈耶赫的家，称该建筑是该组织“恐怖基础设施”的一部分。目前还没有关于al-Hayeh命运或任何伤亡的报告。
对哈耶赫家的轰炸表明，以色列正在扩大其军事行动，不仅仅是该组织的军事指挥官。以色列说，它已经杀死了哈马斯军事部门的几十人，尽管哈马斯和较小的组织伊斯兰圣战组织只承认了20名死亡成员。
自冲突开始以来，以色列已经夷平了加沙城的一些最高的办公楼和住宅楼，声称它们容纳了哈马斯的军事基础设施。周六，它转向了12层的al-Jalaa大楼，那里是美联社、半岛电视台和其他媒体机构的办公室，以及几层公寓。
内塔尼亚胡在周六晚上的电视讲话中说:“只要有需要，竞选活动就会继续下去。”。他声称哈马斯军事情报部门正在大楼内活动。以色列经常以哈马斯的存在作为空袭目标的理由，包括住宅建筑。军方还指控该激进组织利用记者作为人盾，但没有提供证据支持这一说法。
美联社已经在这座建筑上运作了15年，包括以色列和哈马斯之间的前三次战争，但没有直接的目标。在这些冲突以及当前的冲突中，该通讯社的摄像机从其顶层办公室和屋顶平台提供了24小时的现场拍摄，当时激进分子的火箭向以色列拱起，以色列的空袭重创了这座城市及其周围地区。
下午，军方打电话给大楼的主人，并警告说一小时内会有罢工。美联社工作人员和其他居住者安全撤离。
不久之后，三枚导弹击中了大楼并摧毁了它，使它在一片巨大的灰尘中坠毁。
美联社总裁兼首席执行官加里·普鲁伊特在一次记者招待会上说:“由于今天发生的事情，世界对加沙发生的事情将知之甚少。我们感到震惊和恐惧的是，以色列军队将袭击并摧毁美联社驻加沙办事处和其他新闻机构的大楼。”
“这是一个令人难以置信的令人不安的发展。我们侥幸避免了可怕的生命损失，”他说，并补充说，美联社正在向以色列政府寻求信息，并与美国国务院接触以了解更多信息。
半岛电视台媒体网络代理总干事莫斯特法·苏阿(Mostefa Souag)称这次袭击是“战争罪行”，旨在“让媒体保持沉默，掩盖加沙人民遭受的无尽屠杀和痛苦。”
当天晚些时候，白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基(Jen Psaki)在推特上表示，美国已经“直接与以色列人沟通，确保记者和独立媒体的安全和安保是首要责任”。
周六凌晨，另一次空袭击中了加沙市人口稠密的沙提难民营的一栋公寓楼，造成两名妇女和八名儿童死亡。
穆罕默德·哈迪告诉记者，他的妻子和她哥哥的妻子和他们的孩子聚集在房子里庆祝开斋节，结束了伊斯兰神圣的斋月。唯一的幸存者是哈迪迪5个月大的儿子奥马尔。
爆炸使孩子们的卧室被瓦砾覆盖，并砸碎了沙龙。残骸中有孩子们的玩具，一个大富翁棋盘游戏，还有放在厨房柜台上的节日聚会上未吃完的食物。
“没有警告...你拍了人吃饭然后你炸了他们?”一位邻居贾迈勒·纳吉说，他指的是以色列对加沙地带的监视。
以色列军方没有立即回应置评请求。
白宫表示，拜登在与内塔尼亚胡的通话中表示，他“强烈支持”以色列的竞选活动，但对平民伤亡和记者保护表示担忧。
美国国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀周六在推特上说，他再次与以色列国防部长本尼·甘茨通话，重申以色列有权自卫，并谴责“哈马斯蓄意以以色列公民为目标”。奥斯汀补充说:“我也表示希望平静能很快恢复。"
爆炸发生在美国外交官哈迪·阿姆尔抵达以色列的第二天，这是华盛顿缓解冲突努力的一部分。一名不愿透露姓名的埃及情报官员周五表示，以色列拒绝了埃及提出的哈马斯统治者接受的一年停火建议，以讨论谈判。
埃及与以色列在安全问题上密切合作，并与哈马斯统治的加沙地带接壤，来自埃及的调解人似乎越来越感到担忧。这名情报官员说，埃及希望美国的干预能够阻止以色列的袭击。联合国安理会定于周日开会。
紧张局势始于本月初的东耶路撒冷，当时巴勒斯坦人抗议定居者试图强行将一些巴勒斯坦家庭驱逐出他们的家园，并抗议以色列警方在阿克萨清真寺采取的措施。阿克萨清真寺是老城一座受穆斯林和犹太人尊敬的山上经常发生的热点。
哈马斯星期一晚间向耶路撒冷发射火箭，引发了以色列对加沙的袭击。从那时起，哈马斯已经发射了2000多枚火箭，尽管大部分没有达到目标或者被反导弹防御系统拦截。以色列战机和大炮已经袭击了被封锁的加沙周围的数百个目标，那里居住着大约200万巴勒斯坦人。
骚乱也蔓延到了其他地方，加剧了被占领西岸的抗议活动，并在以色列境内引发了犹太人和阿拉伯人之间的暴力冲突，以及对人员和财产的私刑袭击。
周六，巴勒斯坦人纪念浩劫日，即“灾难日”，纪念大约70万人在1948年围绕以色列建国的战争中被赶出或逃离家园。数千名阿拉伯裔以色列人在以色列北部城市苏赫宁举行的一次大灾难集会中游行，西岸也发生了零星的抗议活动。
巴勒斯坦卫生官员报告说，周六在西岸，两名巴勒斯坦人死于以色列的炮火。其中一起枪击事件发生时，军方称挫败了一起据称的汽车相撞事件。
Israel strikes Gaza home of Hamas leader, destroys AP office
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Israel slammed the Gaza Strip with airstrikes, in a dramatic escalation that included bombing the home of a senior Hamas leader, killing a family of 10 in a refugee camp — most of them children — and pulverizing a high-rise that housed The Associated Press and other media.
The Hamas militant group continued a stream of rocket volleys into Israel, including a late-night barrage on Tel Aviv. One man was killed Saturday when a rocket hit his home in a suburb of the seaside metropolis.
With a U.S. envoy on the ground, calls increased for a cease-fire after five days of mayhem that have left at least 145 Palestinians dead in Gaza — including 41 children and 23 women — and eight dead on the Israeli side, all but one of them civilians, including a 5-year-old. President Joe Biden, who has called for a de-escalation but has backed Israel’s campaign, spoke separately by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Still, Israel stepped up its assault, vowing to shatter the capabilities of Gaza’s Hamas rulers. The week of deadly violence, set off by a Hamas rocket Monday, came after weeks of mounting tensions and heavy-handed Israeli measures in contested Jerusalem.
Early Sunday, Israeli warplanes struck several buildings and roads in a vital part of Gaza City. Photos circulated by residents and journalists showed the airstrikes created a crater that blocked one of the main roads leading to Shifa, the largest hospital in the strip.
The Health Ministry said the latest airstrikes left at least two dead and 25 wounded, including children and women. There has been no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
On Saturday, Israel bombed the home of Khalil al-Hayeh, a senior figure in Hamas’ political branch, saying the building served as part of the group’s “terrorist infrastructure.” There was no immediate report on al-Hayeh’s fate or on any casualties.
The bombing of al-Hayeh's home showed Israel was expanding its campaign beyond just the group’s military commanders. Israel says it has killed dozens in Hamas’ military branch, though Hamas and the smaller group Islamic Jihad have only acknowledged 20 dead members.
Since the conflict began, Israel has leveled a number of Gaza City’s tallest office and residential buildings, alleging they house elements of the Hamas military infrastructure. On Saturday, it turned to the 12-story al-Jalaa Building, where the offices of the AP, the TV network Al-Jazeera and other media outlets are located, along with several floors of apartments.
“The campaign will continue as long as it is required,” Netanyahu said in a televised speech on Saturday evening. He alleged that Hamas military intelligence was operating inside the building. Israel routinely cites a Hamas presence as a reason for targeting certain locations in airstrikes, including residential buildings. The military also has accused the militant group of using journalists as human shields, but provided no evidence to back up the claims.
The AP has operated from the building for 15 years, including through three previous wars between Israel and Hamas, without being targeted directly. During those conflicts as well as the current one, the news agency’s cameras from its top floor office and roof terrace offered 24-hour live shots as militants’ rockets arched toward Israel and Israeli airstrikes hammered the city and its surroundings.
In the afternoon, the military called the building’s owner and warned a strike would come within an hour. AP staffers and other occupants evacuated safely .
Soon after, three missiles hit the building and destroyed it, bringing it crashing down in a giant cloud of dust.
“The world will know less about what is happening in Gaza because of what happened today,” AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt said in a statemen t. “We are shocked and horrified that the Israeli military would target and destroy the building housing AP’s bureau and other news organizations in Gaza.”
“This is an incredibly disturbing development. We narrowly avoided a terrible loss of life,” he said, adding that the AP was seeking information from the Israeli government and was engaged with the U.S. State Department to learn more.
Mostefa Souag, acting director-general of Al-Jazeera Media Network, called the strike a “war crime” aiming to “silence the media and to hide the untold carnage and suffering of the people of Gaza.”
Later in the day, White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted that the U.S. had “communicated directly to the Israelis that ensuring the safety and security of journalists and independent media is a paramount responsibility.”
In the early hours Saturday, another airstrike hit an apartment building in Gaza City’s densely populated Shati refugee camp, killing two women and eight children.
Mohammed Hadidi told reporters that his wife and her brother’s wife had gathered at the house with their children to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr holiday ending the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The only survivor was Hadidi’s 5-month-old son, Omar.
The blast left the children’s bedroom covered in rubble and smashed the salon. Amid the wreckage were children’s toys, a Monopoly board game and, sitting on the kitchen counter, unfinished plates of food from the holiday gathering.
“There was no warning ... You filmed people eating and then you bombed them?” a neighbor, Jamal Al-Naji, said, referring to Israel’s surveillance over the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In his call with Netanyahu, Biden expressed his “strong support” for Israel’s campaign but raised concern about civilian casualties and protection of journalists, the White House said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin tweeted Saturday that he had spoken again with Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz and reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself and condemned “Hamas’ deliberate targeting of Israeli citizens.” Austin added: “I also expressed my hope that calm can be restored soon.”
The bombings took place a day after U.S. diplomat Hady Amr arrived in Israel as part of Washington’s efforts to de-escalate the conflict. Israel turned down an Egyptian proposal for a one-year truce that Hamas rulers had accepted, an Egyptian intelligence official said Friday on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations.
Mediators from Egypt, which works closely with Israel on security issues and shares a border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, appeared to be growing alarmed. The intelligence official said Egypt hopes the U.S. intervention could halt the Israeli assault. The U.N. Security Council was set to meet Sunday.
The tensions began in east Jerusalem earlier this month, when Palestinians protested attempts by settlers to forcibly evict a number of Palestinian families from their homes and Israeli police measures at Al-Aqsa Mosque, a frequent flashpoint located on a mount in the Old City revered by Muslims and Jews.
Hamas fired rockets toward Jerusalem late Monday, triggering the Israeli assault on Gaza. Since then, Hamas has fired more than 2,000 rockets, though most have either fallen short or been intercepted by anti-missile defenses. Israel’s warplanes and artillery have struck hundreds of targets around blockaded Gaza, where some 2 million Palestinians live.
The turmoil has also spilled over elsewhere, fueling protests in the occupied West Bank and stoking violence within Israel between its Jewish and Arab citizens, with clashes and vigilante attacks on people and property.
Palestinians on Saturday marked the Day of al-Nakba, or “the Catastrophe,” commemorating the estimated 700,000 people who were expelled from or fled their homes in what was now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding its creation. Thousands of Arab Israelis marched in a Nakba rally in the northern Israeli city of Sukhnin, and scattered protests took place in the West Bank.
Palestinian health officials reported the deaths of two Palestinians by Israeli fire in the West Bank on Saturday. One of the shootings occurred when the army said it thwarted an alleged car ramming.
