
<p id="h-topline"><strong>TOPLINE</strong> Gaza militant groups launched another round of more than 100 rockets into central Israel in retaliation for the Israeli military&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tzXlZ5_Sds" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">leveling another Gaza Tower</a>, a move that sent millions of Israelis into hiding in bomb shelters as the conflict’s death toll continues to climb.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/GettyImages-1232823091-1024x698.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-51100" width="734" height="500" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/GettyImages-1232823091-1024x698.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/GettyImages-1232823091-300x204.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/GettyImages-1232823091-768x523.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/GettyImages-1232823091-1536x1047.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/GettyImages-1232823091-2048x1396.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 734px) 100vw, 734px" /><figcaption>TOPSHOT &#8211; Smoke billows from Israeli air strikes in Gaza City, controlled by the Palestinian Hamas movement, on May 11, 2021. &#8211; Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza exchanged heavy fire, killing at least 26 Palestinians and two Israelis, in an escalation sparked by violent unrest at Jerusalem&#8217;s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. (Photo by ANAS BABA / AFP) (Photo by ANAS BABA/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h3>



<p>Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, said the 130 rockets it fired toward Israel Wednesday afternoon were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/12/israeli-bombardment-continues-on-gaza" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a direct response</a>&nbsp;to the destruction of Gaza City’s Al Sharuk tower earlier in the day.</p>



<p>Footage circulating on social media Wednesday shows the 14-story tower&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tzXlZ5_Sds" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">collapsing</a>&nbsp;after it was targeted for a strike by the Israel Defense Forces.</p>



<p>Besides residential apartments, the building also housed the offices of local and international&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/12/israeli-bombardment-continues-on-gaza" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">media outlets</a>, according to reports.</p>



<p>More than 335 Palestinians in Gaza have been wounded in the attacks, Gaza’s health officials said Wednesday, and of the 56 who have been reported killed, 14 were children.</p>



<p>Strikes from Hamas and other Gaza militant groups like Islamic Jihad have injured roughly 100 and killed 6 in Israel, including a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1392482375490211844?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">21-year-old soldier</a>&nbsp;and an Indian woman who was reportedly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/indian-woman-killed-in-israel-was-struck-by-rocket-strike-during-a-video-call-with-husband-384415" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">on a video call</a>&nbsp;with her husband when she died.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h3>



<p>International powers are calling for a ceasefire. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will send top diplomat Hady Amr to the region “to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/12/world/middleeast/israel-palestine-blinken.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">urge deescalation</a>&nbsp;and to bring calm,” Blinken said Wednesday.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h3>



<p>Weeks of tension reached a tipping point Saturday when&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2021/05/10/hamas-fires-rockets-into-israel---and-threatens-to-launch-more---as-tensions-escalate/?sh=3c99b7b6312c">Hamas fired rockets</a>&nbsp;into Jerusalem after Israeli security forces confronted Palestinian protestors within the compound of the city’s Al Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam. Relations between Israel and Palestinians had been strained over the efforts of Jewish settlers to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2021/05/10/hamas-fires-rockets-into-israel---and-threatens-to-launch-more---as-tensions-escalate/?sh=35fdef5d6312">forcibly evict Palestinian families</a>&nbsp;from their homes in East Jerusalem and celebrations of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/jerusalem-alaqsa-templemount-haramalsharif/2021/05/10/17f29614-b161-11eb-bc96-fdf55de43bef_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jerusalem Day</a>, a controversial holiday that marks the anniversary of Israel seizing control of East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War in 1967.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h3>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2021/05/12/49-dead-hundreds-injured-amid-warning-israeli-palestinian-violence-escalating-toward-full-scale-war/?sh=45955a53424e">49 Dead, Hundreds Injured Amid Warning Israeli-Palestinian Violence Escalating Toward ‘Full-Scale War’</a>&nbsp;(<em>Forbes</em>)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2021/05/11/tel-aviv-comes-under-fire-as-israel-and-palestinian-militants-trade-blows/?sh=750d983b557e">“Tel Aviv Comes Under Fire As Israel And Palestinian Militants Trade Blows”</a> (<em>Forbes</em>)</p>



<p><strong><em>By Carlie Porterfield, Forbes Staff</em></strong></p>


Tag: Bombings

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Israel Levels A Third Tower Building In Gaza City—And Militant Groups Respond With Rockets