Smoke rises during an Israeli air strike on the Hanadi site in Gaza City, which is controlled by the Palestinian Hamas movement on May 11, 2021.
Mohammed Abed | AFP | Getty Images
The United Nations has called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians, warning that the devastating violence is on the verge of spiraling out of control.
The worst outbreak of violence between Israel and the Palestinians since the Gaza war in 2014 has deepened international concerns, with allegedly no end to the crisis in sight.
“Stop the fire immediately. We are escalating to a war in full,” said Tor Wennesland, United Nations envoy for the Middle East, on Twitter late Tuesday.
“Leaders on all sides must take responsibility for the de-escalation. The cost of the war in Gaza is devastating and is being paid by the common people. The United Nations is working (with) all sides to restore calm. Stop the violence now . “
The Palestinian extremist group Hamas, which governs Gaza, has fired hundreds of rockets at Israel, including in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and Israel has retaliated with deadly air strikes on Gaza. In the enclave, around 2 million Palestinians have lived under a strict Israeli-Egyptian blockade since Hamas came to power in 2007.
On May 11, 2021, rockets controlled by the Palestinian Hamas movement will be fired at Israel from Gaza City.
Mohammed Abed | AFP | Getty Images
The Gaza Ministry of Health said Wednesday the death toll from Israeli air strikes had risen to 43 Palestinians, including 13 children. Israeli air strikes also targeted two skyscrapers on Tuesday.
The United Nations quoted Tuesday reports that between May 7 and 10, more than 900 Palestinians were injured in East Jerusalem and over 200 in the West Bank, “most of them by Israeli security forces,” some of whom were also injured.
According to the Israel Foreign Ministry, more than 1,000 rockets have been fired by Palestinian militants in Israeli cities in the past 36 hours. Israel said five people were killed by rocket fire and over 200 injured.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this week that Hamas had crossed a “red line” for the first time since 2014 by firing rockets into the Jerusalem area.
On Tuesday, Hamas said it launched “a massive rocket attack against Tel Aviv and its suburbs with 130 missiles in response to enemy targeting residential towers,” according to Reuters.
Israel Defense Forces said people in Tel Aviv, the country’s second largest city, were taken to bomb shelters early Wednesday. Rocket fire also resulted in all flights to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport being halted.
A huge column of smoke from the city of Gaza spills out of an oil factory in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on May 11, 2021 after the Palestinian Hamas movement fired rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel.
Mohmmed Abed | AFP | Getty Images
Tensions escalated dramatically following protests against the possible eviction of Palestinian families from a neighborhood in East Jerusalem by the Israeli Supreme Court and access to one of the city’s holiest sites. The court was due to hold a hearing on Monday on the deeply controversial eviction case initiated by right-wing Israelis, but delayed an announcement due to mounting tensions coinciding with the anniversary of Israel’s recapture of Jerusalem in the 1967 war and Muslim observance of Ramadan.
The United Nations agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, sounded the alarm on Monday that over eight families of Sheikh Jarrah, a total of around 75 people, were at risk of eviction.
Violent clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians were also reported on Friday as Muslims were reportedly prevented from reaching Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site.
A Palestinian helps a wounded protester clash with Israeli security forces on the grounds of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on May 10, 2021, before a march is planned to commemorate Israel’s takeover of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War.
Ahmad Gharabli | AFP | Getty Images
Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the UN rights bureau, said the treatment of protesters and even those who did not protest last week was “extremely worrying”.
“People who just prayed or people who had their iftar who were subjected to violence or totally unprovoked reactions from the security forces,” Colville said, referring to the Ramadan fasting dinner.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday via Twitter that he had spoken to Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi about the escalating violence.
“Israelis and Palestinians must be able to live in security and equally have freedom, security, prosperity and democracy,” said Blinken.
– CNBC’s Marty Steinberg contributed to this report.
