Major rocket barrage on Ashkelon, Ashdod, as ministers mull next steps in Gaza

Police say no one hurt and no damage after rockets hit Netivot

Police arrive on the scene in two locations in the southern town of Netivot where Gazan rockets landed just moments ago.

Initial police reports say the rockets caused no casualties or damage.

Police sappers are working to dispose of the exploded warheads.

Major rocket barrage on Ashkelon, Ashdod; two rockets fall in Netivot

The rocket barrages from Gaza continue, with sirens sounding in the coastal cities of Ashkelon and Ashdod.

Two rockets fell in Netivot, one exploding outside a supermarket.

Initial reports say no one was hurt in the Netivot explosion.

Rocket sirens sound in Netivot, Gaza border villages

A barrage of rockets is being fired at Israeli towns and villages near the Gaza border. Rocket sirens are sounding in Netivot and Kissufim.

Israeli airlines step up with rescue flights for Israelis stuck abroad

All three Israeli airlines, El Al, Arkia and Israir, will run special rescue flights for Israelis trapped abroad by flight cancellations of non-Israeli airlines amid the rocket fire from Gaza.

Israir sent planes to the Belgian city of Liege this morning. Another plane will head to the Greek island of Crete late Monday. Israir plans to send planes to Frankfurt, London and Paris today.

None hurt in shooting attack on Israeli motorist east of Hebron

Military officials say an Israeli driver came under fire east of Hebron in the southern West Bank a short time ago.

No one was hurt in the shooting.

The IDF is searching for the perpetrator.

IDF says it struck 11 Gazan rocket launchers, one Hamas cell Sunday morning

The IDF says its airstrikes against Hamas rocket launchers in Gaza continue this morning.

Air Force jets struck 11 launchers in Shejaiyah and Khan Younis, as well as a Hamas cell in Khan Younis while it was operating a launcher.

Security cabinet meets on Gaza operation

Israel’s security cabinet, the committee of ministers legally empowered to make war decisions, is meeting now to discuss the next steps in the Gaza operation.

Hebrew media reports suggest some of the ministers plan to urge a quick end to the fighting.

Non-Israeli airlines cancel flights this week amid rocket fire

Foreign airlines cancel their services to and from Israel due to the rocket fire by terror groups in the Gaza Strip, leaving Israeli companies alone in offering flight connections abroad.

On Saturday, Fly Dubai and Etihad Air, two carriers with lines to the United Arab Emirates, both halted operations, Hebrew media reports. They joined a slew of other airlines that canceled flights in the past few days.

Airlines have pulled out despite Israel last week arranging to divert some incoming flights away from Ben Gurion Airport, the main international terminus, to land at Ramon Airport in the south of the country.

The cancellations cover flights that were scheduled through Tuesday for the most part. The Ben Gurion Airport flight board shows that many airlines still have flights scheduled from May 19.

Palestinians say 174 killed in Gaza since fighting started, 47 of them children

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says that 174 Palestinians have died since the beginning of hostilities between Hamas and Israel. According to the ministry, 47 were children.

Another 1,200 Palestinians were wounded.

Israel has said it doesn’t target civilians, and that most of those killed in Gaza were either members of terror groups or were killed by errant Palestinian rockets.

15 Palestinians killed in morning strikes, Hamas-run health ministry says

At least 15 Palestinians have been reported dead so far in a heavy Israeli bombardment on Gaza City early Sunday morning, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says.

Israeli airstrikes reportedly targeted Al-Wehdat, a thoroughfare in Gaza City, late last night.

According to reports on social media, no warning was given to residents that an Israeli strike was on its way.

One of the casualties is a well-known doctor at Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, Ayman Abu Aouf, the Health Ministry reports.

Paramedics have reported more fatalities at the scene as they continue to dig people out.

“We’re hearing screams under the rubble,” a member of Gaza’s Civil Defense tells the Al-Jazeera network.

After lull, rocket fire renews toward Gaza border towns

After a 4-hour lull, fresh rocket sirens have been set off in the Gaza border towns of Nirim and Ein Hashlosha.

There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

Gantz meets Biden envoy Hady Amr to talk de-escalation

Defense Minister Benny Gantz meets with US envoy Hady Amr for talks on de-escalating the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Amr, who serves as the US deputy assistant secretary for Israel and Palestinian affairs, arrived in Israel on Friday to advance the Biden administration’s efforts to de-escalate the conflict.

Amr’s mission seems to be a bid to compensate for the lack of US ambassadors to either Israel or the Palestinians. Neither position has been filled yet by the new administration.

As second week of violence dawns, many towns see efforts to repair and reconnect

In Acre, Arab and Jewish residents joined together to clean the streets.

Israeli residents of Acre, Jewish & Arabs, volunteering together to amend damage, clean the city following riots that rampaged hotel, restaurants and an area where a Jewish teacher was lynched by an Arab mob (he is still on life support). credit: @nassar_furat pic.twitter.com/QDECqsaj3j

— ‏Tal Schneider טל שניידר تال شنايدر (@talschneider) May 16, 2021
In Haifa, Arab residents handed out flowers to motorists.

עכשיו בחיפה ????יוזמה של אזרחים מקומיים לחלק פרחים לתושבים????توثيق من حيفا|مبادرة فردية لتوزيع الزهور على المواطنين. pic.twitter.com/cGMi9D9y0Z

— |فرات نصار|פוראת נסאר|FURAT NASSAR (@nassar_furat) May 15, 2021

Gaza expected to run out of fuel for generating electricity today

The Gaza Strip is expected to run out of fuel for its power station later today, significantly reducing the already small amount of electricity in the beleaguered Palestinian enclave, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

With the outbreak of fighting last Monday, the Israeli military shuttered the Kerem Shalom Border Crossing, through which passes the primary pipeline into Gaza, blocking the flow of fuel to the Strip and reducing the amount of electricity in the enclave to between four and five hours per day.

On Thursday, a senior Israeli defense official said Gaza was due to run out of fuel by Sunday. Asked about the issue today, IDF Spokesperson Hidai Zilberman confirms that this is the case.

“They’ll have trouble operating their power plant because they don’t have fuel. This will have a significant effect on the amount of electricity in Gaza,” Zilberman says.

Egypt said to ask Israel for brief humanitarian ceasefire

The London-based Arabic-language Al-Araby Al-Jadeed news site reports that Egypt is seeking a brief humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but that the idea is on hold apparently because the Palestine side won’t agree to Israel’s condition that all rocket fire and West Bank violence stops for the duration of the ceasefire.

Citing Egyptian sources, the paper says the ceasefire would last a few hours to allow rescuers to rescue anyone found trapped in rubble where buildings were destroyed, and to recover bodies of those killed.

Israel, the paper reports, “is intransigent,” conditioning its participation in the complete cessation of hostilities by Palestinian factions.

The Egyptian proposal was reportedly presented by Egypt’s intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Kamel to Mossad head Yossi Cohen.

Israeli security cabinet to meet Sunday to consider next steps in Gaza

Israel’s security cabinet, the small committee of ministers empowered by Israeli law to make war decisions, is set to meet on Sunday morning to consider the next steps in the fighting in Gaza.

IDF says over 130 rockets fired at Israel overnight

Palestinian terror groups fired over 130 rockets toward Israel from the Gaza Strip from Saturday night to Sunday morning, the military says, with dozens of the incoming projectiles being intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, roughly 120 rockets were fired into Israeli territory during that time, while 11 failed to clear the border and landed within the Gaza Strip.

Roughly half of the projectiles — 55 — were fired at Israel in a massive barrage aimed at central and southern Israel around midnight Saturday, which caused neither injury nor significant damage, according to Israeli authorities.

In total, terrorists have launched nearly 2,500 rockets since the start of the fighting on Monday evening, according to the military’s tally.

In call with Gantz, US defense chief condemns Hamas and calls for calm

The Pentagon releases a readout of a Saturday phone call between US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin and Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

While Austin “reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself” and “strongly condemned the continued onslaught of attacks by Hamas and other terrorist groups targeting Israeli civilians,” he urged an end to the fighting and the restoration of calm.

60 brushfires put out in West Bank on Saturday, half of them said caused by arson

Israeli Fire and Rescue Services officials say 60 brushfires were put out throughout the West Bank since Saturday morning that were sparked by firebombs and burning tires in protests.

An estimated 30 of those brushfires were started intentionally, the officials say.

Three-hour quiet punctured by 5 a.m. rocket fire at Gaza border towns

After a three-hour lull in Gaza rocket fire from roughly 2 a.m. to 5 a.m., fresh rocket sirens sound this morning throughout the Gaza border area, including in Berekhaya, Nitzanim, Nir Israel, Nahal Oz and Hodaya.

There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

IDF releases footage of bombing of Hamas chief Sinwar’s home

The IDF releases footage of its bombing of the home of Hamas’s leader in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, overnight.

IDF lauds Iron Dome performance in overnight rocket barrage from Gaza

Some 55 rockets were fired at Tel Aviv and central Israel in Hamas’s Saturday midnight barrage, the Israel Defense Forces says.

Without releasing exact numbers, IDF Spokesperson Hidai Zilberman says the Iron Dome missile defense system performed well against the fusillade.

“We intercepted a very, very good percentage of them,” he says.

Iron Dome putting in some serious work tonight

(Video: Tai Tzaban) pic.twitter.com/Omi2JL9ibo

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 15, 2021
No direct injuries were reported in the strikes, though a number of people were injured while running to bomb shelters, according to medics.

IDF defends strike on Gaza media building, noting Hamas, PIJ assets in building

IDF Spokesperson Hidai Zilberman pushes back against American lawmakers’ condemnation of the targeting of a building in Gaza that housed a number of international media outlets, where the military says Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization also maintained facilities.

One of the main occupants of the building, the Associate Press news agency, which has maintained offices there for some 15 years, has denied knowledge of Hamas’s presence in the building and demanded the Israel Defense Forces release evidence of that fact, which Zilberman rejected.

“Yesterday I released a statement with the assets that were in the building. I’ll repeat them: a Hamas research and development unit, Hamas military intelligence and offices of the PIJ. It was very clear what was in there,” he says.

Asked if the strike wasn’t a mistake nevertheless given the denunciation by key Israeli allies, including US President Joe Biden and Democratic US Senator Bob Menendez, who have until now overwhelmingly supported Israel’s operation in the Gaza Strip in response to ongoing rocket fire from Gaza at cities and towns throughout the country, Zilberman balked.

“We’re in the midst of an operation. They are firing wherever they want, on a civilian population, on cities that have tens and hundreds of thousands of people. Think for a second about all the people you mentioned, imagine what they would say if one rocket — one! — were fired at Washington. I want to know what they would say,” Zilberman says.

“A building that has Hamas and Islamic Jihad assets in it needs to be brought down.”

The spokesperson adds that this operation was meant to deter terror groups from maintaining offices alongside media outlets in the future.

“If Hamas and the Islamic Jihad think that the media are their shield, then in the next operation in Gaza, we’ll find that media outlets’ offices are going to be popping up as covers for terrorist assets,” he says.