Israel-Gaza conflict rages on despite US and regional diplomacy

Israel pummeled Gaza with airstrikes May 17 and Palestinian militants launched rockets at Israeli cities despite a flurry of U.S. and regional diplomacy that has so far failed to halt more than a week of deadly fighting. Israel’s missile attacks on Gaza killed a top commander of the militant group Islamic Jihad and left a crater in a seven-story office building that Israel’s military said was used by Hamas, Gaza’s ruling Islamic political party. “The directive is to continue to strike at terror targets,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after a meeting with military chiefs. The armed wing of Hamas promised more rockets in return: “We (warned) the enemy that if it did not stop (its bombings) immediately, we would resume rocketing Tel Aviv,” said its spokesman. U.S. President Joe Biden, in a call with Netanyahu on May 17, expressed his support for a cease-fire in the fighting, the White House said in a statement. Hamas began its rocket assault May 10 after weeks of tensions. (Reuters) This article was provided by The Japan Times Alpha.