Death tolls rise in Israel-Gaza violence
Israel carried out hundreds of airstrikes into Gaza on Wednesday (May 12), as Islamist group Hamas and other Palestinian militants fired multiple rockets over the border at Tel Aviv and Beersheba.
Dozens have been killed in the heaviest offensive between Israel and Hamas since 2014.
In Gaza, Palestinian witnesses and health officials said a vehicle was struck by a lethal Israeli airstrike.
Abed Aldayah was at the scene:
"What should I say? This is a crime they were civilians: a woman, her children a barber and a shop owner these are the people who were at the scene. They didn't hit a militant or a leader, we are civilians sleeping in our homes."
A multi-story residential building also collapsed and another was heavily damaged. Israel warned occupants in advance to evacuate and said it was targeting members of Hamas.
Several Israelis have also been killed by missile attacks, according to medical officials.
Many woke up shaken after a night of sirens sounding in Tel Aviv as interceptor missiles streaked into the sky.
Violence also flared in mixed Jewish-Arab towns in Israel, like Lod, where men carried Torah scrolls through debris after a synagogue was set on fire.
Avraham Sagron is a local rabbi:
"We had a nightmare of a night, really a riot of hundreds of Arab youths, they came in masses, torched car after car, trash bins, broke windows and it was really dangerous to leave the house."
The violence follows weeks of tension, and clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
These escalated in recent days ahead of a now postponed court hearing about Palestinian families being evicted from East Jerusalem homes claimed by Jewish settlers.
