According to the Israeli army, Palestinian militants fired more than 4,360 rockets at Israel during the armed forces. 680 of them hit the Gaza Strip itself. 13 people were killed in the attacks in Israel. The Israeli army shot at more than 1,500 targets in the coastal strip. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, 248 Palestinians were killed, more than a quarter of them minors. Israel’s army, on the other hand, speaks of more than 200 Palestinian militants killed in the Gaza Strip.
The Hamas-controlled civilian government agencies in the coastal strip resumed their work on Sunday. The Israeli attacks were aimed at Hamas’ military infrastructure, but also caused enormous damage to residential and high-rise buildings, health facilities and other public buildings. The everyday life of the more than two million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip came to a standstill. The bombing spread fear and terror among civilians.
At a rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening, several thousand demonstrators called for a peaceful solution to the decades-old conflict with the Palestinians. “This is the home of all of us” and “Equal Rights for All Citizens” read signs held up by demonstrators.
Thousands of people took part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations in numerous cities around the world on Saturday, including in Berlin, London and Paris. The demonstrators put up posters calling for “Freedom for Palestine” among other things. In New York and Los Angeles there have been serious anti-Semitic attacks on the sidelines of such rallies in recent days.
According to the Berlin police’s anti-Semitism officer, Wolfram Pemp, hatred of Jews has long been massively underestimated. Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) warned in her weekly video message: “Anyone who brings hatred of Jews onto our streets, whoever expresses seditious insults, is outside of our Basic Law.” The Chancellor spoke of “unbearable anti-Semitic remarks at some of the demonstrations over the past few days”. She called for tangible consequences for the perpetrators.
After a three-week ban on entry, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem was reopened to Jewish visitors on Sunday. The holy place was closed to Jews during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan due to severe confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli security forces. The clashes are considered to be one of the triggers for the recent Gaza conflict. It began on May 10 when Hamas members fired rockets at Jerusalem.
On Friday, after the ceasefire on the Temple Mount, there were new clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces. According to the Israeli police, 33 Palestinians who were involved in the rioting in East Jerusalem were arrested on Sunday night. Several arrests were made on Saturday.
The Temple Mount (Al-Haram al-Sharif) with the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aksa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam. But it is also holy to Jews because two Jewish temples used to stand there.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210523-99-711280 / 2
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