Signs Of An End To The Israeli-Palestinian War Have Not Been Seen, The Death Toll Continues To Rise

Illustration of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict (Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - Israeli planes continued to launch airstrikes in Gaza on Saturday morning as fighting between the two sides entered its fifth night. Hamas guerrillas responded to the attack by firing rockets at Israel.

Palestinian medics say at least four people have been killed in one of several airstrikes in northern Gaza. Residents said an Israeli navy ship fired bullets from the Mediterranean although nothing hit the line.

The Palestinian Ministry of Religious Affairs said an Israeli plane destroyed a mosque. A military spokesman said the army was reviewing the report.

Sirens rang out in two major cities in southern Israel warning of gunfire from Gaza. Hamas claimed responsibility for launching the rocket.

With no sign of an end to the fighting, casualties spread further, with Palestinians reporting 11 people were killed in the occupied West Bank amid clashes between protesters and Israeli security forces.

At least 132 Palestinians, including 32 children and 21 women, have been killed, and another 950 injured in Gaza since Monday, Palestinian medical officials said.

Hamas says a woman and a boy were among four people killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit a house belonging to the Abu Hattab family in the Gaza City Beach refugee camp. The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the attack.

Among the eight killed in Israel were a soldier patrolling the Gaza border and six civilians, including two children, Israeli authorities said.

Ahead of a U.N. Security Council session on Sunday to discuss the situation, Biden administration envoy Hady Amr, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Israel and Palestinian Affairs, flew on Friday.

The U.S. Embassy in Israel said the goal was "to reinforce the need to work toward sustainable calm."

Israel launched an all-day offensive on Friday to destroy what it said were several kilometers (miles) of tunnels, launch sites and weapons-making arsenals used by militants in an attempt to stop rocket attacks.

Across central and southern Israel, from small towns bordering Gaza to the metropolitans of Tel Aviv and southern Beersheba, people have adjusted to the roar of sirens, interruptions of radio and TV broadcasts, and the sound of cellphone shakes bearing red alerts that make them rush for cover.

Cross-border hostilities between Israelis and Palestinian militants in Gaza have been accompanied by violence in mixed Jewish and Arab communities in Israel. Synagogues have been attacked and street fights have broken out, prompting israel's president to warn of civil war.