More troops, more missiles, more violence: Despite international peace efforts, the signs of the Middle East conflict are on the rise. The Israeli army has moved additional troops to the Gaza Strip border. Israeli tanks fired on the Palestinian enclave and ground troops gathered at the border, according to reporters from the AFP news agency. Rocket fire from the Gaza Strip on Israeli cities continued.

“We are ready and continue to prepare for various scenarios,” said Army spokesman Jonathan Conricus. A ground offensive is “a scenario”. However, the armed Forces stressed that a ground offensive was not the primary focus of the operation against Palestinian militants.

Meanwhile, the serious clashes between Jewish and Arab Israelis stoke fears of unrest among the Israeli population. Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced a “massive reinforcement” of security forces throughout the country. “The violence within Israel has reached a level not seen in decades,” said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. Police officers “literally prevented pogroms from happening,” he added.

Border police reservists were sent to Israeli cities to contain the violence. On Wednesday evening there had already been clashes in several cities between ultranationalist Jews and Arab Israelis as well as the police. Politicians and commentators warned of the danger of a “civil war”. Among other things, an Arab Israeli was shot and a synagogue was set on fire during the clashes. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the violence in Israeli cities as “unacceptable.”

In the Israeli city of Lod on Thursday evening, a man shot at a group of armed Jews, injuring one person. An eyewitness told the AFP news agency that the man opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon at the group of Israelis, who apparently were patrolling a quarter of the city where the situation is particularly tense. One person was injured in the leg.

International fears of a renewed war in the Middle East are also growing in view of the continuing rocket fire on Israel from the Gaza Strip and the Israeli retaliatory strikes. The United States reaffirmed Israel’s right to self-defense and called for an end to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the attacks on the Israeli population in a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He expressed his condolences for the” numerous losses suffered by Palestinian civilians “and called on Abbas to”use all means of his influence to bring about peace as soon as possible”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and UN Secretary General António Guterres called on both sides to stop the attacks. It is “the most important task to end the violent actions on both sides and to guarantee the security of the civilian population,” the Kremlin said after a video conference.

An emergency session of the UN Security Council scheduled for Friday was cancelled on Thursday. According to diplomats, the US was against the renewed meeting, which would have been the third in a week. In a previous letter, Israel had called on the international community to condemn the “indiscriminate attacks” from Gaza. The previous day, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Rijad Mansur, called for an end to the Israeli attacks “on the Palestinian civilian population.”

Due to the continued rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, numerous airlines, including Lufthansa, temporarily suspended air traffic to Tel Aviv.

According to Israeli sources, Palestinian militant organizations such as Hamas and the Islamic jihad have fired a total of more than 1,600 rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel since Monday evening, and the Israeli army has responded by attacking some 600 targets in the Gaza Strip.

Attack on intelligence facility

According to military sources, Israeli fighter jets also fired at a Hamas intelligence facility. The main military observation center of the organization is located on the site, the army said. Dozens of members of the Islamist Hamas are said to have been there at the time of the attack. The army did not say whether there were dead or injured among them.

Hamas also reportedly used drones. The Israeli army claimed to have shot down a drone and defused two other aircraft loaded with explosives.

The attacks from the Gaza Strip killed seven people in Israel, including a six-year-old child and a soldier. According to Palestinian reports, 83 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Monday, including 17 children. In addition, the Palestinian health authorities reported almost 500 casualties. Hamas confirmed the deaths of several of its military leaders, including Bassem Issa, the head of its armed wing in the Gaza Strip.

The latest escalation of violence is triggered by the threat of forced eviction of around 30 Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem, which are claimed by Jewish Israelis. In recent days, hundreds of Palestinians and dozens of policemen have been injured in the most violent clashes in years between Israeli security forces and Palestinians in East Jerusalem.

Maas blames Hamas for escalation

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) blamed Hamas for the worsening of the Middle East crisis. “At least Hamas wantonly caused the latest escalation by firing over a thousand rockets at Israeli cities, “Maas told Bild. The federal government now wants to”use all channels to work towards easing the situation”.