Ten days in, the fighting between Israel and Palestine rages on as the sides exchange rocket fire and airstrikes. On Wednesday, rockets were launched from Lebanon towards Israel with Israel returning fire, BBC reports. The Gaza Strip is increasingly devastated by the fighting.
- The Gaza Health Ministry reported to The Associated Press that Israeli airstrikes have killed 219 Palestinians, including 63 children, 39 women and 16 elderly Gazans.
- Over 1,530 Palestinians have been wounded, as per the AP.
- UN officials said via CNN that 58,000 Palestinians have been internally displaced after fleeing their homes.
- In Gaza, nearly half of all essential drugs have run out with airstrikes damaging the region's only COVID-19 testing and vaccination facility, the AP said.
- Hamas rockets have killed 12 Israelis, including one child, the AP reports.
Within Israel, the Palestinian general strike, called on Tuesday, led to protests and violent clashes across the country in a rare display of unity, the AP and The New York Times said. Three Palestinian Israeli protesters were killed and 140 wounded in clashes with Israeli troops, the Palestinian Health Ministry says. The Israeli military reported two officers wounded in clashes.
What’s happening at the border of Israel and Lebanon?
Since fighting began on May 10, three rounds of rocket fire have come from Lebanon toward Israel, most recently on Wednesday, said BBC and the AP. Israeli Defense Forces reported no casualties or damage from the Lebanese rockets, according to BBC.
The border of Israel and Lebanon remains a tense region with the countries formally at war since the Arab-Israeli conflict of 1948-49, BBC reported. In 2006, the Israeli military and the Hezbollah armed group, which acts as peacekeepers along the border, got in a monthlong war that killed 1,190 Lebanese and 163 Israelis and ended in a U.N.-brokered ceasefire, according to BBC.
- Israeli Defense Forces tweeted Wednesday that they are “prepared for any scenario on any front.”
Is a cease-fire coming?
Again on Tuesday, the U.N. Security Council failed to reach an agreement on a formal statement. The U.S., a long-time ally of Israel, has again blocked these efforts. According to the BBC, the U.S. delegation said it would not help in de-escalation.
- The Biden administration privately encouraged Israel to pull back the airstrikes of Gaza, the AP reports.
On Tuesday, protests in support of Palestine took place in numerous U.S. cities, including Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Atlanta and New York City. In New York City, pro-Palestine and pro-Israel demonstrators clashed, throwing punches and leading to multiple arrests, according to Newsweek.
Egyptian negotiators told the AP they have not made progress with Israel, but hope international pressure will help this process. There remains no timeline for a cease-fire.
- Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “You can either conquer them, and that’s always an open possibility, or you can deter them. We are engaged right now in forceful deterrence, but I have to say, we don’t rule out anything.”