In Pictures

In Pictures: Ruins and devastation as Israeli attacks pummel Gaza

Israel has launched hundreds of air raids on the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the week, in the worst escalation since the 2014 Israeli war on Gaza.

A Palestinian man runs for cover during an Israeli air attack near the site of a destroyed tower building in Gaza City. [Suhaib Salem/Reuters]

Heavy bombardment on the Gaza Strip continued into the early hours of Thursday as Israeli forces launched a series of air attacks on various locations.

Since the Israeli offensive began late on Monday, Gaza’s health ministry says at least 83 people, including 17 children, have been killed. More than 390 others have been wounded.

The Israeli army said about 1,500 rockets have been fired from Gaza towards various locations in Israel, killing at least six Israelis.

Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Safwat al-Kahlout said most people in the besieged enclave did not sleep overnight as the bombing continued.

“From time to time you hear loud explosions, and the buildings are shaken,” he said.

On the morning of Thursday, the first day of Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the month of Ramadan, residents and shop owners in Gaza City walked among the rubble and what is left of their homes and businesses following the heavy Israeli bombardment.

Pointing to his damaged shop, Zakria Al-Halees was struggling for words.

“The damage is huge in the whole area,” he said.