Flare-up between Israel and Palestine enters third day, UN calls for de-escalation: The United Nations has expressed concern in the recent flare-up between Israel and Palestine in the besieged Gaza strip. UN’s Middle East envoy Nikolay Mladenov called on all the parties to de-escalate tensions and return to the understandings of the past few months. In a statement, he said that the UN body and Egypt are attempting to calm down the situation.
Mladenov said that continuing the current path of escalation would quickly undo what has been achieved and destroy the chances for long-term solutions to the crisis, adding that this endless cycle of violence must end and efforts must accelerate to realize a political solution to the crisis in Gaza.
His statement comes when Israel is carrying out attacks on the besieged Gaza, claiming that their prime target is Palestine’s Hamas movement.
On Sunday, the Israeli warplanes continued strikes across Gaza and rockets were also shot from Gaza. The recent flare-up erupted on Friday after four Palestinians were killed, two in Southern Gaza and two near a fence that separates Gaza and Israel.
However, Israeli army blamed Palestineans for starting the crisis, saying two of its military personnel were injured in the Palestinian firing near the fence. According to reports, a 60-year-old Israeli man has been killed in the rocket from the blockaded coastal enclave.
The Tev Aviv has said that more than 400 rockets were fired from Gaza in the past few days, in return they have targetted 180 sites in the besieged Gaza strip.
Israeli warplanes have also hit the building that houses the offices of the Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency in Gaza. The Turkish government has condemned the Israeli action.
Reports said that seven Palestinians and one Israeli have been killed in the past few days. Meanwhile, Hamas has blamed Israel for the recent spate of violence.
