At least 132 killed as Israel continues Gaza bombardment

At least 32 children and 21 women among the dead, 950 others wounded

Israeli planes renewed air strikes in Gaza early on Saturday and Hamas retaliated by firing rockets into Israel as their battle entered the fifth night and US and Arab diplomats sought an end to the violence.

Palestinian medics said at least four people were killed in one of several airstrikes in northern Gaza. Residents said Israeli naval boats fired shells from the Mediterranean though none may have hit the strip.

Flames and smoke rise during Israeli air strikes in the southern Gaza Strip. More photos from the flare up in Israel-Palestinian violence: https://t.co/DYClATHpEg 📷 Ibraheem Abu Mustafa pic.twitter.com/lq9mZmjDf9

— Reuters Pictures (@reuterspictures) May 11, 2021

The Palestinian religious affairs ministry said Israeli planes destroyed a mosque. A military spokesperson said the army was checking the report.

Sirens sounded in two major southern Israeli cities warning of incoming fire from Gaza. Hamas claimed responsibility for launching rockets.

With no sign of an end to the fighting, casualties spread further afield, with Palestinians reporting 11 killed in the occupied West Bank amid clashes between protesters and Israeli security forces.

At least 132 people have been killed in Gaza since Monday, including 32 children and 21 women, and 950 others wounded, Palestinian medical officials said.

Hamas said a woman and a boy were among four people killed in an Israeli air strike that hit a home belonging to the Abu Hattab family in Gaza City's Beach refugee camp. The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strike.

Read: Turkey's Erdogan says UN must act to halt Gaza conflict

Among eight dead in Israel were a soldier patrolling the Gaza border and six civilians, Israeli authorities said.

A multi-storey building in Gaza City collapsed after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike https://t.co/WXjaLOkXvT pic.twitter.com/vEndWLoTOG

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 12, 2021

Ahead of a session of the UN Security Council on Sunday to discuss the situation, Biden administration envoy Hady Amr, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Israel and Palestinian Affairs, flew in on Friday.

The US Embassy in Israel said the aim was "to reinforce the need to work toward a sustainable calm."

Israel launched day-long attacks on Friday to destroy what it claimed were several kilometres (miles) of tunnels, launch sites and weapons manufacturing warehouses used by the militants in an effort to halt the rocket attacks.

Across central and southern Israel, from small towns bordering Gaza to metropolitan Tel Aviv and southern Beersheba, people have adjusted to sirens wailing, radio and TV broadcast interruptions and the beeps of cellphones bearing red alerts that send them rushing for cover.

Cross-border hostilities between Israel and Palestinian fighters in Gaza have been accompanied by violence in mixed communities of Jews and Arabs in Israel, prompting Israel’s president to warn of civil war.

Streaks of light are seen as Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel May 14, 2021. PHOTO: REUTERS

Read more: Over 120 Palestinians killed as Israel continues to pound Gaza

Diplomatic flurry

Egypt was leading regional efforts to secure a ceasefire. Cairo was pushing for both sides to cease fire from midnight on Friday pending further negotiations, two Egyptian security sources said, with Egypt leaning on Hamas and others, including the United States, trying to reach an agreement with Israel.

The foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan discussed efforts to end the Gaza confrontation and to prevent "provocations" in Jerusalem, Egypt's foreign ministry said.

"The talks have taken a real and serious path on Friday," a Palestinian official said. "The mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations are stepping up their contacts with all sides in a bid to restore calm, but a deal hasn't yet been reached."

The United Arab Emirates on Friday called for a ceasefire and negotiations while offering condolences to all victims of the fighting, citing the promise of September accords that made the UAE and Bahrain the first Arab states in a quarter-century to establish formal ties with Israel.

The Israeli military claimed more than 2,000 rockets had been fired from Gaza into Israel since the start of the conflict, around half of them intercepted by missile defence systems and 350 fell into the Gaza Strip.

Civil unrest between Jews and Arabs in Israel itself dealt a strong blow to efforts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponents to unseat the Israeli leader after a series of inconclusive elections, giving rise to expectations Israelis will go to the polls for an unprecedented fifth time in just over two years.

Israeli Border police force members stand guard on a street during clashes with Palestinians in East Jerusalem May 14, 2021. PHOTO: REUTERS