The death toll has risen to at least 90
Israel’s aerial defence system, the Iron Dome, has reportedly intercepted 90% of all Palestinian rockets fired. It’s as violence between Israel and Palestine shows no sign of letting up, having started on Monday.
In the first 48 hours of the renewed conflict, the Daily Mail reports that Hamas militants fired more than 1,000 rockets at Israeli targets. Apparently nine out of ten of them have been intercepted by Israel’s anti-missile defence systems.
However some have still managed to cause damage and death, with the Israeli death toll now standing at at least six, with more than 90 civilians injured. The Palestinian death toll is much higher, with at least 83 people now killed in Gaza, according to the BBC.
On Thursday, the Israeli army reported that it had received a rocket warning in the north of the country for the first time since violence flared up.
Since the start of the violence, which is the worst between the neighbouring territories since 2014, approximately 1,500 rockets have been fired by Hamas militants from Gaza, with these setting off warnings in the southern and central Israel.
Hundreds of these are being intercepted by the country’s Iron Dome.
In response to the Hamas offensive, Israel has retaliated with hundreds of air strikes on Gaza.
Neither side is showing any signs of backing down from the conflict.
Both sides are facing calls from across the international community to de-escalate the tension, with fears that the violence could develop into a full-scale war.
On Wednesday the United Nations held an emergency meeting to discuss the worsening hostilities. According to sources, 14 of the 15 members were in favour of adopting a joint declaration aimed at reducing the tensions.
However it is reported that the US saw the meeting itself as a sufficient sign of concern, and did not believe that a statement would “help de-escalate” the situation.
