Gaza is under attack once again. Israeli forces continued to strike the Gaza Strip for the fourth day in a row on May 12, bringing the total death toll from airstrikes to 31, including six children and three women. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 31 people, including six children and three women, have been killed and 93 others, including 32 children and 17 women, have been injured in the last four days of Israeli forces air attacks.
Five senior members of the Islamic Jihad organisation were also killed in the Israeli attacks on Gaza. Earlier, the Israeli army destroyed a home owned by the Palestinian “Bashir” family at dawn on May 12 as Israeli raids on various locations in the southern Gaza Strip continued.
In an official statement, the Islamic Jihad denied the victims were members of the group, but stressed it will retaliate for all of the victims killed.
Meanwhile, armed Palestinian factions reportedly retaliated by firing rocket-propelled grenades at Israeli military sites adjacent to the Gaza Strip. Israel’s national emergency medical service, Magen David Adom, reported that a rocket fired from Gaza struck a residential building in the central Israeli city of Rehovot, resulting in one fatality and five injuries.
Israeli occupation forces on May 10 re-demolished EU-funded Jibb al Deeb school, near Bethlehem, a few days after it was demolished and rebuilt again.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, informed American officials who visited Israel that he was planning to attack Gaza Strip, Israeli media revealed on May 9. This happened, according to Kan public broadcaster, during a meeting with two senior Biden administration officials – US Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk and Energy czar, Amos Hochstein – that took place one day before the attack.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on May 9 strongly condemned Israeli airstrikes on the blockaded Gaza Strip. Several countries and regional bodies have condemned the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, including Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Türkiye and the Arab League.
The American Human Rights Council (AHRC-USA) also condemned with the strongest terms the recent Israeli attack on Gaza.
The 75th Anniversary of the Palestinian Catastrophe “Al-Nakba” falls annually on May 15. While the catastrophe that befell the Palestinians in 1948 is rightly called a Nakba, the ongoing violence shows that the Nakba is an ongoing violence that takes all shapes and continues unabated.
Meanwhile, the Grand Mufti of Oman hailed Palestinian resistance on May 8. “Allah’s miracles have been repeated consecutively, ushering in the end of the (Israeli) occupation, and preaching to the brave resistance that Allah is capable of sending His victory,” tweeted Sheikh Ahmed Bin Hamad Al-Khalili.
He called for the Israeli authorities to “end the occupation of Palestine” or face consequences known only to the Almighty. At the same time, he also called on those who support the Israeli occupation to think about their future. Those who struggle for justice, he pointed out, “are backed by Allah.”
Al Khalili is well known for his clear support for the Palestinians and their legitimate rights, and is an outspoken critic of the normalisation of ties with the occupation state.