AN ISRAELI air raid in Gaza City killed at least 10 Palestinians, mostly children, early Saturday in the deadliest single strike since the battle with Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers erupted. Both sides pressed for an advantage as truce efforts gathered strength. Israel also bombed the home of Khalil al-Hayeh, a top leader of Gaza’s ruling militant Hamas group. The latest outburst of violence began in Jerusalem and has spread across the region, with Jewish-Arab clashes and rioting in mixed cities of Israel.

 

There were also widespread Palestinian protests on Friday in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces shot and killed 11 people. The spiralling violence has raised fears of a new Palestinian “intifada,” or uprising at a time when there have been no peace talks in years. Palestinians were set to mark Nakba (Catastrophe) Day on Saturday, when they commemorate the estimated 700,000 people who fled or were driven from their homes in what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding its creation.

 

An Israeli airstrike destroyed a building in Gaza City that housed offices of The Associated Press and other media outlets. The strike came nearly an hour after the military ordered people to evacuate the building, which also housed Al-Jazeera, offices and residential apartments. The strike brought entire 12-story building down.