Alwaght- At least 26 Palestinians, mostly children and women, were killed Sunday when Israeli regime's airstrikes flattened three buildings in the besieged Gaza.
The Gaza Health Ministry said 10 women and eight children were among those killed, with another 50 people wounded in the deadliest single attack since Tel Aviv launched new round of aggression against the coastal enclave nearly a week ago . More than 50 Palestinian children has been killed in a week of Israeli bombing of Gaza, according to media report.
Earlier, Israeli warplanes have bombed Gaza’s top Hamas leader in a separate strike in the southern town of Khan Younis. It was the third such attack in the last two days on the homes of senior Hamas leaders.
Resistance fighters responded by firing fresh barrages of rockets at Tel Aviv and the southern city of Beersheva.
“After threatening to fire rockets at Tel Aviv, Hamas has fired a heavy barrage of rockets from Gaza into central & southern Israel,” the Israeli military wrote in a post published on its Twitter page early on Sunday.
The sound of sirens was heard all over the southern and central Israeli cities, including Ashdod, Ashkelon and Beersheva, followed by explosions.
Settlers dashed for bomb shelters as alerts warning of incoming rockets blared. Israeli medical staff said around 10 people were injured while running for shelters.
Gaza tower housing foreign media offices pulverized
On Saturday, Israel destroyed 12-story al-Jalaa building in Gaza City, which houses the offices of US news agency the Associated Press and Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera.
Seven press offices were destroyed and three journalists were wounded in the strike, Palestinian media reported, and debris and shrapnel flew dozens of yards away.
The Israel military claimed in a statement that the multi-story building contained Hamas military offices, alleging that it had given warnings to civilians to get out of the building before the attack.
AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt called the strike “an incredibly disturbing development.”
He said a dozen AP journalists and freelancers had been in the building and evacuated in time.
“We are shocked and horrified that the Israeli military would target and destroy the building housing AP’s bureau and other news organizations in Gaza. The world will know less about what is happening in Gaza because of what happened today,” he said in a statement.
The US government said it had called upon the Israeli regime to ensure the safety of journalists.
“We have communicated directly to the Israelis that ensuring the safety and security of journalists and independent media is a paramount responsibility,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tweeted.
The acting director general of Al Jazeera Media Network, Dr. Mostefa Souag, called the strike “barbaric” and said Israel should be held accountable.
“The aim of this heinous crime is to silence the media and to hide the untold carnage and suffering of the people of Gaza,” he stated.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Saturday that the regime was “still in the midst of this operation, it is still not over and this operation will continue as long as necessary.”
