Related video above: Hamas militants celebrate ceasefire in GazaIt took Ramez al-Masri three years to rebuild his home after it was destroyed in a 2014 Israeli offensive. When war returned to the area last week, it took just a few seconds for the house to be flattened again in an Israeli airstrike.The despondent al-Masri once again finds himself among the thousands of Gazans left homeless by another war between Israel and the territory's Islamic militant Hamas rulers. He and the 16 others who lived in the two-story structure are scattered at relatives' homes, uncertain how long they will remain displaced as they wait with hope for international aid to help them rebuild the home."My children are scattered — two there, three here, one there. Things are really very difficult," he said. "We live in death every day as long as there is an occupation," he said, referring to Israel's rule over Palestinians, including its blockade of Gaza.The United Nations estimates that about 1,000 homes were destroyed in the 11-day war that ended last Friday. Lynn Hastings, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for the region, said hundreds of additional housing units were damaged so badly they are likely uninhabitable.The destruction is less extensive than in the 50-day war of 2014, in which entire neighborhoods were reduced to rubble and 141,000 homes were either wiped out or damaged. But following that war, international donors quickly pledged $2.7 billion in reconstruction assistance for the battered enclave. It remains unclear this time around whether the international community, fatigued from the global COVID-19 crisis and years of unsuccessful Mideast diplomacy, will be ready to open its wallet again. Related video: Biden: 'no shift' in commitment to Israel's securityIt was 3 a.m. on Wednesday when the phone call from Israel came to a neighbor ordering everyone in the area to evacuate. "Leave your homes, we are going to bomb," al-Masri says they were told. The neighborhood is home to members of al-Masri's extended family. At the time of the warning, he said no one knew which house might be targeted. But he could not believe that the airstrike hit the two-floor home where he lived with his eight children, his brother's family and their mother."If we knew someone was wanted, we would not have stayed here from the outset," he said. Al-Masri, who owns a small grocery store, said neither he nor his brother have anything to do with militant groups.The airstrike turned his home into a crater. On Sunday, the massive hole was filled with murky water spewing from broken water and sewage lines.Seven adjacent homes belonging to relatives were badly damaged. Their walls were blown up, exposing the colorful interior decorations of the living and bedrooms. The blast was so powerful that concrete support beams were weakened and the houses are likely beyond repair.On Sunday, a mobile pump was deployed to suck the stinky water out as bulldozers worked to reopen streets. City workers were removing damaged power lines. But much of the rubble remained uncleared. After the 2014 war, al-Masri bounced around between rental homes and "caravans" — small metal huts that dotted hard-hit areas of Gaza like shantytowns. He dreads the thought of returning to the temporary shelters."Life was disastrous in the caravans. We were living between two sheets of tin," he said.He said he hopes the international community "will stand by us, try to help us so we can rebuild quickly."The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment on why the home had been targeted. Throughout the fighting, it accused Hamas of using residential areas as cover for rocket launches and other militant activity. The army says its system of warnings and evacuation orders is meant to prevent civilians from being harmed. During the recent fighting, Israel unleashed hundreds of airstrikes across Gaza at what it said were militant targets. Hamas and other armed groups fired more than 4,000 rockets toward Israeli cities, most of which were intercepted or landed in open areas. The fighting began May 10, when Hamas militants in Gaza fired long-range rockets toward Jerusalem. The barrage came after days of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police at Al-Aqsa. Heavy-handed police tactics at the compound and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers had inflamed tensions.The true costs of the war will not be known for some time. Palestinian health officials said 248 Palestinians, including 66 children and 39 women, were killed in the fighting.Twelve people in Israel, including two children, also died in the fighting.On Sunday morning, hundreds of municipal workers and volunteers started a one-week campaign to clear rubble from Gaza City's streets. Outside a flattened high-rise building, workers loaded rubble into donkey carts and small pickup trucks. Next to a destroyed government building, children collected cables and whatever recyclable leftovers they could sell for a few shekels.In Beit Hanoun, one of the homes that was struck last week belonged to Nader al-Masri, Ramez's cousin and a long-distance runner who participated in dozens of international competitions. Since he lost his house in the 2014 war, Nader, 41, has lived in the second of floor of a three-floor home belonging to relatives.The third and the first floors sustained heavy hits. A room filled with medals and trophies that Nader collected through his 20-year career was damaged. Fortunately, he said, many of his mementos survived.Nader al-Masri is familiar with loss. Beit Hanoun, situated just along the frontier with Israel, has frequently been the scene of heavy fighting, and his home has been damaged two previous times."I had over 150 trophies. In each of the previous wars, I lost one or two or three," he said. Some 20 glass awards have been shattered over the years. "Each war the number drops," he said, showing a medal from the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.As a world-class runner from 1998 to 2018, Nader was one of Gaza's most famous residents, especially after Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade on Gaza following Hamas' takeover of the territory in 2007.The blockade often prevented him from traveling abroad to compete. In many cases, he arrived just in time for his races.On Sunday, debris filled his apartment. The ceiling of his daughters' bedroom was cracked. The bright layers of paint had fallen off, exposing gloomy, dark plaster. School backpacks lay on the ground among shards and debris.Nader, now a coach with the Palestinian Athletics Federation, moved his five children to their uncle's house."I'm an athlete and have nothing to do with politics," he said. "Things are difficult because we cannot build a home every day."

President Joe Biden expressed support for a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza's militant Hamas rulers in a call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, but stopped short of demanding an immediate stop to the eight days of Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rocket barrages that have killed more than 200 people, most of them Palestinian.Biden's carefully worded statement, in a White House readout of his second known call to Netanyahu in three days as the attacks pounded on, came with the administration under pressure to respond more forcefully despite its determination to wrench the U.S. foreign policy focus away from Middle East conflicts.Biden's comments on a cease-fire were open-ended, and similar to previous administration statements of support in principle for a cease-fire. That's in contrast to demands from dozens of Democratic lawmakers and others for an immediate halt by both sides. But the readout of the call to the Israeli leader showed increased White House concern about the air and rocket attacks —including Israeli airstrikes aimed at weakening Hamas — while sticking to forceful support for Israel.The U.S. leader “encouraged Israel to make every effort to ensure the protection of innocent civilians,” the White House said in its readout. An administration official familiar with the call said the decision to express support and not explicitly demand a cease-fire was intentional. While Biden and top aides are concerned about the mounting bloodshed and loss of innocent life, the decision not to demand an immediate halt to hostilities reflects White House determination to support Israel’s right to defend itself from Hamas, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the private deliberations.Netanyahu told Israeli security officials late Monday that Israel would “continue to strike terror targets” in Gaza “as long as necessary in order to return calm and security to all Israeli citizens.”As the worst Israeli-Palestinian fighting since 2014 raged, the Biden administration has limited its public criticisms to Hamas and has declined to send a top-level envoy to the region. It also had declined to press Israel publicly and directly to wind down its latest military operation in the Gaza Strip, a six-mile by 25-mile territory that is home to more than 2 million people. Cease-fire mediation by Egypt and others has shown no sign of progress.Separately, the United States, Israel’s top ally, blocked for a third time Monday what would have been a unanimous statement by the 15-nation U.N. Security Council expressing “grave concern” over the intensifying Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the loss of civilian lives. The final U.S. rejection killed the Security Council statement, at least for now.White House press secretary Jen Psaki and national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States was focusing instead on “quiet, intensive diplomacy.”Biden has been determined to wrench U.S. foreign policy away from Middle East and Central Asia conflicts, including withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan and ending support for a Saudi-led war in Yemen, to focus on other policy priorities. Internationally for the U.S., that means confronting climate change and dealing with the rise of China, among other objectives.That shift carries risks, including weathering flaring violence as the United States steps back from hotspots. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking in Denmark on the first stop of an unrelated tour of Nordic countries, said Monday the United States was ready to spring in to help if Israel and Hamas signal interest in ending hostilities — but that the U.S. wasn’t demanding that they do so.“Ultimately it is up to the parties to make clear that they want to pursue a cease-fire,” Blinken said. He described U.S. contacts to support an end to the fighting, including the calls he was making midair between his Nordic stops. Blinken defended the U.S. handling of the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict as America works to push for climate-accord deals, withdraw troops from Afghanistan, and turn U.S. attention to what Biden sees as the nation’s most pressing foreign policy priorities. It’s “a big world and we do have responsibilities," he said.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday joined dozens of Democratic lawmakers — and one Republican, and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders — in calling for the cease-fire by both sides. A prominent Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff, the House intelligence committee chairman, pressed the U.S. over the weekend to get more involved.Progressive Democrats have been more outspoken in demanding pressure on Israel — and Republicans and conservative Democrats comparatively quiet, for a politically fraught U.S. issue like support for Israel — as the death toll has mounted. Rep. Cori Bush, a Missouri Democrat, linked Palestinian issues to those of Black Americans. “We oppose our money going to fund militarized policing, occupation, and systems of violent oppression and trauma,” Bush tweeted.But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, took the Senate floor on Monday to assail lawmakers for including Israel in their demands for a cease-fire.“To say that both sides, both sides need to de-escalate downplays the responsibility terrorists have for initiating the conflict in the first place and suggests Israelis are not entitled to defend themselves against ongoing rocket barrages,” McConnell said.In a shot at Democrats, McConnell said, “The United States needs to stand foursquare behind our ally, and President Biden must remain strong against the growing voices within his own party that create false equivalence between terrorist aggressors and a responsible state defending itself.”Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., led 19 Republican senators releasing a resolution supporting Israel's side of the fighting. They plan to try to introduce the legislation next week.Blinken also said Monday he had asked Israel for any evidence for its claim that Hamas was operating in a Gaza office building housing The Associated Press and Al Jazeera news bureaus that was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike over the weekend. But he said that he personally had “not seen any information provided.”___Knickmeyer reported from Oklahoma City, Lee from Copenhagen, Denmark, and Lederer from New York. Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Alan Fram, Aamer Madhani, Padmananda Rama and Joshua Boak in Washington contributed.

Israel on Wednesday pressed ahead with a fierce military offensive in the Gaza Strip, killing as many as 10 senior Hamas military figures and toppling a pair of high-rise towers housing Hamas facilities in airstrikes. The Islamic militant group showed no signs of backing down and fired hundreds of rockets at Israeli cities.In just three days, this latest round of fighting between the bitter enemies has already begun to resemble — and even exceed — a devastating 50-day war in 2014. Like in that previous war, neither side appears to have an exit strategy.But there are key differences. The fighting has triggered the worst Jewish-Arab violence inside Israel in decades. And looming in the background is an international war crimes investigation.Israel carried out an intense barrage of airstrikes just after sunrise, striking dozens of targets in several minutes that set off bone-rattling explosions across Gaza. Airstrikes continued throughout the day, filling the sky with pillars of smoke.At nightfall, the streets of Gaza City resembled a ghost town as people huddled indoors on the final night of Islam's holiest month of Ramadan. The evening, followed by the Eid al-Fitr holiday, is usually a time of vibrant night life, shopping and crowded restaurants."There is nowhere to run. There is nowhere to hide," said Zeyad Khattab, a 44-year-old pharmacist who fled with a dozen other relatives to a family home in central Gaza after bombs pounded his apartment building in Gaza City. "That terror is impossible to describe."Gaza militants continued to bombard Israel with nonstop rocket fire throughout the day and into early Thursday. The attacks brought life to a standstill in southern communities near Gaza, but also reached as far north as the Tel Aviv area, about 45 miles to the north, for a second straight day.The military said sirens also wailed in northern Israel's Emek area, or Jezreel Valley, the farthest the effects of Gaza rockets have reached since 2014."We're coping, sitting at home, hoping it will be OK," said Motti Haim, a resident of the central town of Beer Yaakov and father of two children. "It's not simple running to the shelter. It's not easy with the kids."Gaza's Health Ministry said the death toll rose to 69 Palestinians, including 16 children and six women. Islamic Jihad confirmed the deaths of seven militants, while Hamas acknowledged that a top commander and several other members were killed.Rescuers pulled the bodies of a man and his wife from the debris of their home that was hit by rockets in the latest Israeli airstrikes early Thursday, relatives said. A total of seven people have been killed in Israel, including four people who died on Wednesday. Among them were a soldier killed by an anti-tank missile and a 6-year-old child hit in a rocket attack.The Israeli military claims the number of militants killed so far is much higher than Hamas has acknowledged.Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said at least 14 militants were killed Wednesday — including 10 members of the "top management of Hamas" and four weapons experts. Altogether, he claimed some 30 militants have been killed since the fighting began.More raids conducted early Thursday were aimed at several "strategically significant" facilities for Hamas, including a bank and a compound for a naval squad, the military said.Video: Escalating violence engulfs Israel and GazaWhile United Nations and Egyptian officials have said that cease-fire efforts are underway, there were no signs of progress. Israeli television's Channel 12 reported late Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Security Cabinet authorized a widening of the offensive.U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the "indiscriminate launching of rockets" from civilian areas in Gaza toward Israeli population centers, but he also urged Israel to show "maximum restraint." U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken called Netanyahu to support Israel's right to defend itself and said he was sending a senior diplomat to the region to try to calm tensions.The current eruption of violence began a month ago in Jerusalem, where heavy-handed Israeli police tactics during Ramadan and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers ignited protests and clashes with police. A focal point was the Al-Aqsa Mosque, built on a hilltop compound that is revered by Jews and Muslims, where police fired tear gas and stun grenades at protesters who threw chairs and stones at them.Hamas, claiming to be defending Jerusalem, launched a barrage of rockets at the city late Monday, setting off days of fighting.The Israeli military says militants have fired about 1,500 rockets in just three days. That is roughly one-third the number fired during the entire 2014 war.Israel, meanwhile, has struck over 350 targets in Gaza, a tiny territory where 2 million Palestinians have lived under a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade since Hamas took power in 2007. Two infantry brigades were sent to the area, indicating preparations for a possible ground invasion.In tactics echoing past wars, Israel has begun to target senior members of Hamas' military wing. It also has flattened three high-rise buildings in a tactic that has drawn international scrutiny in the past. Israel says the buildings all housed Hamas operations centers, but they also included residential apartments and businesses. In all cases, Israel fired warning shots, allowing people to flee, and there were no reports of casualties.The fighting has set off violent clashes between Arabs and Jews in Israel, in scenes unseen since 2000. Netanyahu warned that he was prepared to use an "iron fist if necessary" to calm the violence. But ugly clashes erupted across the country late Wednesday. Jewish and Arab mobs battled in the central city of Lod, the epicenter of the troubles, despite a state of emergency and nighttime curfew. In nearby Bat Yam, a mob of Jewish nationalists attacked an Arab motorist, dragged him from his car and beat him until he was motionless.In the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military said it thwarted a Palestinian shooting attack that wounded two people. The Palestinian Health Ministry said the suspected gunman was killed. No details were immediately available.Still unclear is how the fighting in Gaza will affect Netanyahu's political future. He failed to form a government coalition after inconclusive parliamentary elections in March, and now his political rivals have three weeks to try to form one.His rivals have courted a small Islamist Arab party. But the longer the fighting lasts, the more it could hamper their attempts at forming a coalition. It could also boost Netanyahu if another election is held, since security is his strong suit with the public.Video: Biden says Israel has right to defend itselfIsrael and Hamas have fought three wars since the Islamic militant group seized power in Gaza from rival Palestinian forces in 2007.The International Criminal Court has launched an investigation into possible war crimes by Israel and Hamas. In a brief statement, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she had noted "with great concern" the escalation of violence and "the possible commission of crimes."The ICC is looking into Israeli actions in past wars in Gaza. Israel is not a member of the court, does not recognize the ICC's jurisdiction and rejects the accusations. But in theory, the ICC could issue warrants and try to arrest Israeli suspects while they are traveling overseas.Conricus, the military spokesman, said Israeli forces respect international laws on armed conflict and do their utmost to minimize civilian casualties. Israel blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the group fires rockets from residential areas.Emanuel Gross, a professor emeritus the University of Haifa law school, said Israel should "take into consideration the concerns of the ICC." But he said he believes the military is on solid legal ground while rockets are striking Israeli cities."That's the real meaning of self defense," he said. "If you are attacked by a terrorist group, you defend yourself."___Federman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip —

Israel on Wednesday pressed ahead with a fierce military offensive in the Gaza Strip, killing as many as 10 senior Hamas military figures and toppling a pair of high-rise towers housing Hamas facilities in airstrikes. The Islamic militant group showed no signs of backing down and fired hundreds of rockets at Israeli cities.

In just three days, this latest round of fighting between the bitter enemies has already begun to resemble — and even exceed — a devastating 50-day war in 2014. Like in that previous war, neither side appears to have an exit strategy.

But there are key differences. The fighting has triggered the worst Jewish-Arab violence inside Israel in decades. And looming in the background is an international war crimes investigation.

Israel carried out an intense barrage of airstrikes just after sunrise, striking dozens of targets in several minutes that set off bone-rattling explosions across Gaza. Airstrikes continued throughout the day, filling the sky with pillars of smoke.

At nightfall, the streets of Gaza City resembled a ghost town as people huddled indoors on the final night of Islam's holiest month of Ramadan. The evening, followed by the Eid al-Fitr holiday, is usually a time of vibrant night life, shopping and crowded restaurants.

"There is nowhere to run. There is nowhere to hide," said Zeyad Khattab, a 44-year-old pharmacist who fled with a dozen other relatives to a family home in central Gaza after bombs pounded his apartment building in Gaza City. "That terror is impossible to describe."

Gaza militants continued to bombard Israel with nonstop rocket fire throughout the day and into early Thursday. The attacks brought life to a standstill in southern communities near Gaza, but also reached as far north as the Tel Aviv area, about 45 miles to the north, for a second straight day.

The military said sirens also wailed in northern Israel's Emek area, or Jezreel Valley, the farthest the effects of Gaza rockets have reached since 2014.

Yonatan Sindel / AP Photo

"We're coping, sitting at home, hoping it will be OK," said Motti Haim, a resident of the central town of Beer Yaakov and father of two children. "It's not simple running to the shelter. It's not easy with the kids."

Gaza's Health Ministry said the death toll rose to 69 Palestinians, including 16 children and six women. Islamic Jihad confirmed the deaths of seven militants, while Hamas acknowledged that a top commander and several other members were killed.

Rescuers pulled the bodies of a man and his wife from the debris of their home that was hit by rockets in the latest Israeli airstrikes early Thursday, relatives said.

A total of seven people have been killed in Israel, including four people who died on Wednesday. Among them were a soldier killed by an anti-tank missile and a 6-year-old child hit in a rocket attack.

The Israeli military claims the number of militants killed so far is much higher than Hamas has acknowledged.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said at least 14 militants were killed Wednesday — including 10 members of the "top management of Hamas" and four weapons experts. Altogether, he claimed some 30 militants have been killed since the fighting began.

More raids conducted early Thursday were aimed at several "strategically significant" facilities for Hamas, including a bank and a compound for a naval squad, the military said.

Video: Escalating violence engulfs Israel and Gaza

While United Nations and Egyptian officials have said that cease-fire efforts are underway, there were no signs of progress. Israeli television's Channel 12 reported late Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Security Cabinet authorized a widening of the offensive.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the "indiscriminate launching of rockets" from civilian areas in Gaza toward Israeli population centers, but he also urged Israel to show "maximum restraint." U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken called Netanyahu to support Israel's right to defend itself and said he was sending a senior diplomat to the region to try to calm tensions.

The current eruption of violence began a month ago in Jerusalem, where heavy-handed Israeli police tactics during Ramadan and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers ignited protests and clashes with police. A focal point was the Al-Aqsa Mosque, built on a hilltop compound that is revered by Jews and Muslims, where police fired tear gas and stun grenades at protesters who threw chairs and stones at them.

Hamas, claiming to be defending Jerusalem, launched a barrage of rockets at the city late Monday, setting off days of fighting.

The Israeli military says militants have fired about 1,500 rockets in just three days. That is roughly one-third the number fired during the entire 2014 war.

Israel, meanwhile, has struck over 350 targets in Gaza, a tiny territory where 2 million Palestinians have lived under a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade since Hamas took power in 2007. Two infantry brigades were sent to the area, indicating preparations for a possible ground invasion.

In tactics echoing past wars, Israel has begun to target senior members of Hamas' military wing. It also has flattened three high-rise buildings in a tactic that has drawn international scrutiny in the past.

Israel says the buildings all housed Hamas operations centers, but they also included residential apartments and businesses. In all cases, Israel fired warning shots, allowing people to flee, and there were no reports of casualties.

The fighting has set off violent clashes between Arabs and Jews in Israel, in scenes unseen since 2000. Netanyahu warned that he was prepared to use an "iron fist if necessary" to calm the violence.

But ugly clashes erupted across the country late Wednesday. Jewish and Arab mobs battled in the central city of Lod, the epicenter of the troubles, despite a state of emergency and nighttime curfew. In nearby Bat Yam, a mob of Jewish nationalists attacked an Arab motorist, dragged him from his car and beat him until he was motionless.

In the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military said it thwarted a Palestinian shooting attack that wounded two people. The Palestinian Health Ministry said the suspected gunman was killed. No details were immediately available.

Still unclear is how the fighting in Gaza will affect Netanyahu's political future. He failed to form a government coalition after inconclusive parliamentary elections in March, and now his political rivals have three weeks to try to form one.

His rivals have courted a small Islamist Arab party. But the longer the fighting lasts, the more it could hamper their attempts at forming a coalition. It could also boost Netanyahu if another election is held, since security is his strong suit with the public.

Video: Biden says Israel has right to defend itself

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since the Islamic militant group seized power in Gaza from rival Palestinian forces in 2007.

The International Criminal Court has launched an investigation into possible war crimes by Israel and Hamas. In a brief statement, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she had noted "with great concern" the escalation of violence and "the possible commission of crimes."

The ICC is looking into Israeli actions in past wars in Gaza. Israel is not a member of the court, does not recognize the ICC's jurisdiction and rejects the accusations. But in theory, the ICC could issue warrants and try to arrest Israeli suspects while they are traveling overseas.

Conricus, the military spokesman, said Israeli forces respect international laws on armed conflict and do their utmost to minimize civilian casualties. Israel blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the group fires rockets from residential areas.

Emanuel Gross, a professor emeritus the University of Haifa law school, said Israel should "take into consideration the concerns of the ICC." But he said he believes the military is on solid legal ground while rockets are striking Israeli cities.

"That's the real meaning of self defense," he said. "If you are attacked by a terrorist group, you defend yourself."

___

Federman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem contributed to this report.