At least 83 persons, including 17 children, have been martyred since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Ministry of Health said Thursday. Up to 487 others have been wounded by the Israeli attacks on the Strip, the ministry's spokesman Ashraf Al-Qedra added in a statement. This came in the wake of a series of airstrikes launched by the Israeli aircraft on several areas in the Strip that destroyed a number of housing towers, facilities and properties, he noted. Casualties continued to mount on Thursday in the most severe outbreak of violence between Israel and the Palestinian Territories since 2014. Tensions over the eviction of Palestinians from strategic parts of East Jerusalem reached boiling point at the start of the week, leading to Israeli police descending on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, with hundreds injured in the ensuing carnage. Thousands of Israeli families then spent Wednesday night in bomb shelters as Hamas intensified its bombardment of Tel Aviv and other cities in south, central and northern Israel, while several multi-story buildings in Gaza have been reduced to rubble. Despite diplomatic efforts to ease the crisis, which US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he hoped would end "sooner than later", hundreds of rockets flew across the Gaza Strip overnight. On Thursday the IDF said it had deployed two infantry units and one armored unit to the border with Gaza amid reports in Israeli media of a possible ground invasion. The IDF also confirmed it had struck another multi-story building in the Rimal district of Gaza being used as a base by Hamas intelligence officers. Israeli artillery also pounded targets in Gaza from the border and mid-way through Thursday the IDF said it had identified and thwarted four separate groups of Hamas militants operating anti-tank missiles inside Gaza. On the morning of Eid Al-Fitr, the normally joyous holiday marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, residents of the Palestinian Territories woke up to scenes of devastation. Distraught families in hospital told of pulling their bloodied relatives from piles of rubble while bombs continued to thunder in the distance. Meanwhile, the United States has announced that it is to send high-ranking diplomats to meet Palestinians, Israelis to de-escalate the situation"I've asked Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Hady Amr to go to the region immediately to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday. "We're deeply concerned about what we're seeing there. Images that came out overnight are harrowing and the loss of any civilian life is a tragedy, He will bring to bear his decades of experience and, in particular, he will urge on my behalf and on behalf of President Biden a de-escalation of violence," he added. "We are very focused on this," Blinken added. "The United States remains committed to a two-state solution, this violence takes us further away from that goal," Blinken said. "We'll continue to engage with Israelis, Palestinians, and other regional partners to urge de-escalation and to bring calm," Blinken added. — Agencies
