Smoke billows following an Israeli airstrike at Gaza City on May 20. Photo: Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images
Fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas entered an 11th day Thursday, as international calls grow for a ceasefire following the worst violence to hit the region since 2014.
What's happening: Israeli warplanes again "pounded Gaza overnight" and Hamas rockets hit "at least two" Israeli cities, the Washington Post reports. No rockets were launched from Gaza for roughly eight hours, but sirens warning of rockets in Israel resumed about 9:30am Thursday local time, per Wash Post.
The big picture: Aerial bombardments have killed 228 Palestinians in Gaza, ruled by Hamas, 21 others in the West bank and 10 Israelis and two Thai workers in Israel, per the Post.
At least 64 Palestinian children and two Israeli children are among those killed since the aerial exchanges began on May 10.
What they're saying: Hamas officials told CNN Wednesday a ceasefire could be "imminent, possibly within 24 hours."
President Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday he expects "significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire."
Netanyahu tweeted Wednesday he appreciates Biden's support, but is "determined to continue this operation until its goal is achieved."
Israel's Iron Dome aerial defesce system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, over the Israeli city of Ashkelon on May 19. Photo: Jack Guez/AFP via Getty ImagesExplosions light-up the sky above buildings in Gaza City as Israeli forces shell the Palestinian enclave early on May 18. Photo: Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty ImagesPeople look at the site of a rocket strike from the Gaza Strip on May 17, 2021 in Ashdod, Israel. Photo: Amir Levy/Getty ImagesA Palestinian child, who was injured in Israel's attacks on Gaza, at Rafah border crossing ahead of being treated at Arish Hospital in Arish, Egypt on May 17. Egyptian authorities have been sending ambulances to the area since last Saturday, per Reuters. Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesIsrael's Iron Dome aerial defense system is launched to intercept a rocket from the Gaza Strip, above Ashdod, on May 17. Photo: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty ImagesA ball of fire and a plume of smoke rise above buildings in Gaza City as Israeli forces shell the Palestinian enclave, early on May 17. Photo: Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty ImagesIsrael's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, early on May 17. Photo: Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty ImagesA wounded Palestinians girl is evacuated from the rubble of a destroyed building in Gaza City's Rimal residential district on May 16, following Israeli airstrikes. Photo: Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty ImagesA building damaged by Hamas rockets in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, Israel, May 16. Photo: Gideon Markowicz/AFP via Getty ImagesSmoke billows from a fire following Israeli airstrikes on multiple targets in Gaza on May 16. Photo: Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty ImagesThe Israeli Iron Dome missile defense system (L) intercepts rockets (R) fired by Hamas from Gaza toward Israel early on May 16. Photo: Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty ImagesPalestinian doctors rush to treat a wounded girl who arrived with her family at Al-Shifa Hospital after intensive bombardments in Gaza City on May 16. Photo: Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty ImagesMembers of Israel's security and emergency services transport an injured woman from a site hit by a rocket in Ramat Gan on May 15. Photo: Oren Ziv/AFP via Getty ImagesPalestinians carry one of survivors from under the rubble of a building, after it was struck by Israeli strikes, in Gaza, May 16. Photo: Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty ImagesA member of the Israeli emergency services works on a site hit by a rocket in Ramat Gan, following the launching of rockets from Gaza. Photo: Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images
