Israel’s airstrikes on Gaza kill 24 Palestinians

Cars burn after being hit by a missile fired from Gaza Strip, in the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon, on Tuesday. Pic/AP/PTI

Israel unleashed new airstrikes on Gaza early on Tuesday, hitting the high-rise home of a Hamas field commander and two border tunnels dug by militants, as Hamas and other armed groups fired dozens of rockets toward Israel.

The escalation in the conflict was sparked by weeks of tensions in contested Jerusalem. Since sundown on Monday when the cross-border attacks began, 24 Palestinians, including nine children, were killed in Gaza, most by airstrikes, Gaza health officials said. The Israeli military said 15 of the dead were militants. During the same period, Gaza militants fired more than 250 rockets toward Israel, injuring six Israeli civilians in a direct hit on an apartment building.

In a further sign of rising tensions, the Israeli army said in a statement that the chief of staff has called in troop reinforcements in the country's south. Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz has ordered the mobilisation of 5,000 reserve troops to expand the current campaign "and deepen home front defence".

The exchange of fire on Monday night was preceded by hours of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces, including dramatic confrontations at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a sacred site to both Jews and Muslims.

‘Strengthening contacts with int'l community'

Palestine is intensifying its contacts with the international community in an effort to curb the ongoing violent clashes in East Jerusalem, President Mahmoud Abbas said. The aim of the contacts is to stop the dangerous escalation of violence against Muslim and Christian holy sites in East Jerusalem, Abbas told his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone conversation on Monday.

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