Israel sends in ground forces as Gaza conflict intensifies
May 14, 2021 / 9:14 AM
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Sharjah24 – AFP: Israel said Friday it sent ground forces into action and pounded Gaza in response to a new barrage of rocket fire from the Hamas-run enclave in a conflict that has now claimed over 100 Palestinian lives.
"Israeli planes and troops on the ground are carrying out an attack in the Gaza Strip," the Israeli army said in a brief message. The escalation was confirmed by army spokesman John Conricus, although he did not specify the scale of the operation. As the violence intensified, Israel security forces scrambled to contain deadly riots between Jews and Arabs, with projectiles also fired on Israel from Lebanon. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was "deeply concerned about the violence in the streets of Israel", voicing support for a United Nations Security Council meeting "early next week" on the crisis. "We believe that Israelis and Palestinians deserve equal measures of freedom, security, dignity and prosperity," Blinken said.
There were intense artillery exchanges Thursday night, and reporters saw Israeli troops assembling at the security barrier. Balls of flames rose high into the sky after strikes smashed into densely packed Gaza.
Dozens of rockets were fired from Gaza towards the southern Israeli coastal cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon, and in the vicinity of Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport. "We are prepared, and continue to prepare for various scenarios," Conricus said, describing a ground offensive as "one scenario". In Gaza, photographers said people were evacuating their homes in the northeastern part of the enclave ahead of possible Israeli attacks, with Hamas warning of a "heavy response" to a possible ground incursion.
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