Israel

16 May 2021; MEMO: Israel pounded Gaza with airstrikes into the early hours of Sunday, destroying a tower block that housed news media organisations, while Palestinian militants fired rocket salvoes at Tel Aviv, reports Reuters.

JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli airstrike on Saturday destroyed a high-rise building that housed The Associated Press office in the Gaza Strip, despite repeated urgent calls from the news agency to the military to halt the impending attack. AP called the strike “shocking and horrifying.”

15 May 2021; MEMO: Israeli police detained the deputy head of the Islamic movement in Israel, Sheikh Kamal al-Khatib, on Friday after breaking into his home in Kafr Kanna in Galilee, northern Israel.

His son told Al Jazeera television that police violently raided the home and assaulted family members.

Clashes erupted between residents and police that left nine Israeli Arabs injured, following the arrest.

15 May 2021; MEMO: Israeli analyses consider that the continuous aggression carried out by the occupation on Gaza since last Monday "is nearing its end," indicating that Hamas has won a battle of consciousness. In contrast, the Israeli army commanders boast of "the air force achievements".

JERUSALEM (AP) — Early Friday, just after midnight, the Israeli military put out an ominous statement to the media: “IDF air and ground troops are currently attacking in the Gaza Strip.”

The vaguely worded statement set off frenzied speculation that Israel had launched a ground invasion of Gaza — a much-feared scenario that would mark a bloody escalation of this week’s operation against Hamas militants. Some reporters were even told outright the incursion had begun.

14 May 2021; MEMO: The armed wing of Palestinian resistance group Hamas fired rockets against an airport and major cities in Israel, including Tel Aviv, the group said on Thursday, Anadolu Agency reported.

The Al-Qassam Brigades group said in a statement that it had launched 250 Ayyash missiles towards Ramon Airport in southern Israel, about 220 kilometers (137 miles) from Gaza.

JERUSALEM (AP) — In the 1980s, Rabbi Meir Kahane’s violent anti-Arab ideology was considered so repugnant that Israel banned him from parliament and the U.S. listed his party as a terrorist group.

Today, his disciples march through the streets by the hundreds, chanting “Death to Arabs” and assaulting any they come across. This week, they took part in a wave of communal violence in Jerusalem and mixed cities across Israel in which Arabs and Jews viciously attacked people and torched cars.

13 May 2021; MEMO: Shocking live footage showed a gang of Jewish extremists dragging a motorist who looked Palestinian from his car and beating him unconscious, according to the Guardian.

The attack took place in a district in Tel Aviv.

The emergency services including the police and an ambulance arrived at the scene 15 minutes later, whilst the victim lay bloodied and motionless on the ground.

JERUSALEM (AP) — As rockets from Gaza streaked overhead, Arabs and Jews fought each other on the streets below and rioters torched vehicles, a restaurant and a synagogue in one of the worst spasms of communal violence Israel has seen in years.

The mayor of the mixed town of Lod, which saw the worst of the violence Tuesday, compared it to a civil war or a Palestinian uprising.

Israel has rejected Egyptian calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. Yedioth Ahronoth quoted high-ranking Israeli political sources as saying that the Israeli response to the Egyptian proposal was: "Do not talk to us now, we are collecting the price and reinforcing deterrence."

The political sources added that "the general perception of the Israeli political leadership is that the Egyptians, as well as the international community, will allow Israeli operations until Eid El-Fitr, that is, until Wednesday-Thursday night."