Violence in Gaza and Israel shows no sign of abating amid continued rocket fire and air strikes, and civil unrest among Jewish and Israeli Arab mobs.
Smoke billows from an explosion following an Israeli air strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday.
Photo: AFP
Deaths continue to mount, with at least 83 people now killed in Gaza and seven in Israel.
Israel said it had been targeted with 1,600 rockets. It is now mulling a possible ground operation in Gaza and has sent reinforcements to the border.
This is now the worst violence since 2014, fuelled initially by weeks of Israeli-Palestinian tension in East Jerusalem which led to clashes at a holy site revered by both Muslims and Jews. This spiralled into an incessant exchange of Palestinian rocket fire and Israeli airstrikes.
The Israeli Prime Minister s statement declared a state of emergency in the city
It came after an Israeli Arab was killed there the previous night as violence soars
Netanyahu travelled to Lod - in the suburbs of Tel Aviv - himself to call for calm
Mayor Yair Revivo had ramped up the drama by declaring civil war has erupted
He said troops should be deployed and compared it to Kristallnacht under Nazis
Israel is heading for full-scale WAR , UN warns, as clashes between Jews and Arabs spark civil war in one city: 43 Palestinians and five Israelis now dead as Gaza is bombarded and Hamas rockets continue to fall Stop the fire immediately. We re escalating towards a full-scale war. Leaders on all sides have to take the responsibility of de-escalation, Tor Wennesland UN Special Envoy to the Middle East Peace Process tweeted
Last night s barrages levelled tower blocks in Gaza as death toll rose to 43 Palestinians, including 13 children
Rockets from suspected Hamas strongholds have killed five Israelis, including two women and a child