In Pictures: Death and destruction in Gaza as Israel attacks

palway786 (42)in #steemit • 3 years ago

Israeli artillery and tank shells fired into Gaza on Thursday evening forced many families to flee their homes.

At least 119 Palestinians, including 31 children, have been killed and more than 830 wounded since hostilities flared on Monday.

Hundreds of Palestinian families have taken shelter in UN-run schools in northern Gaza to escape Israeli artillery fire.

Israeli artillery and tank shells fired into Gaza on Thursday evening forced many families to flee their homes. Palestinians marked the first day of the Eid al-Fitr religious holiday under relentless aerial bombardment.

At least seven Israelis and one Indian national have also been killed. The Israeli army said hundreds of rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel.

Israel massed additional soldiers and tanks near Gaza and Israel’s defence minister approved the mobilisation of 9,000 more reservist troops. But the armed forces maintained a ground offensive was not the primary focus of the operation against Palestinian fighters.

Israel continued to bombard the Gaza Strip on Friday with air attacks and artillery shells, ignoring international calls for calm. [Mohammed Saber/EPA]

Sharif al-Zaharna, 33, rests at the Shifa hospital in Gaza City where he is receiving treatment for wounds caused by a May 10 Israeli strike that hit a nearby house in the town of Jabaliya. [Khalil Hamra/AP Photo]

Smoke rises after an Israeli air attack in the al-Shejaeiya neighbourhood in the east of Gaza City. [Mohammed Saber/EPA]

Palestinian families take shelter at a UN school in Gaza City after fleeing their homes in the town of Beit Lahia. [Mahmud Hams/AFP]

A Palestinian boy sits on the rubble of his home destroyed after an Israeli air attack in Gaza City. [Mohammed Saber/EPA]

A Palestinian paramedic approaches a body buried in the rubble of a collapsed house belonging to the al-Tanani family in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. [Qusay Dawud/AFP]

Palestinians carry the body of a child found in the rubble of a house that was destroyed in Israeli air attacks in the town of Beit Lahiya. [Abdel Kareem Hana/AP photo]

Despite international calls for an immediate halt of all hostilities, including from United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged the offensive will continue 'as needed to restore calm in the state of Israel'. [Mohammed Saber/EPA]