CAIRO: The international community was urged on Saturday to call on Israel to cease its strikes and provocative acts against the Palestinians. Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry called on the UNSC to “uphold its responsibility” and “put steps in place to defend Palestinian rights.”
UNSC ‘Must Act to Defend Palestinian Rights’
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi also warned of a “vicious cycle” of violence. According to Arab News, he received a call from his French counterpart President Emmanuel Macron and discussed “coordinating efforts to end the escalation in the Gaza Strip between Israeli and the Palestinian sides.”
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry Shoukry made a series of phone calls, including to his counterparts in Turkiye, Russia, France, Germany, and Spain, to gather “global actors” to “intervene immediately” over the matter.
Shoukry also phoned UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed to discuss “the seriousness of the present situation and the need to make every effort to stop the situation from getting out of control.”
In a telephone call with EU foreign policy head Josep Borrell, Egypt’s FM stressed the “Significance of stopping the escalation and all parties exercising maximum restraint.”
In a statement, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said that Russia’s Sergei Lavrov and Shoukry stressed “the need for an immediate halt to the escalations” ahead of Sunday’s emergency UNSC meeting.
Egypt called on world to “ask Israel to halt the assaults and provocative acts against the Palestinians and to adhere to the principles of global humanitarian law with regard to the responsibilities of an occupying state.”
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Palestinian Health Ministry said that 232 Palestinians have been martyred in Israeli airstrikes on besieged Gaza following a Palestinian group surprise attack on Israel.
The Palestinian group launched on Saturday a surprise attack, saying its multifront attack was in reply to the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque and increased settler violence. The group said it fired rockets and also arrested many Israelis.
In an update on its social media, the health ministry stated on Saturday that 1,697 Palestinians were also injured in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. The ministry maintained that its medical teams were making efforts “to save dozens of critical injured people”.
On other hand, Israeli media said that 250 Israelis have been killed in an escalation with Hamas. It added that more than 1,000 Israelis were injured in surprise attack of the Palestinian group. According to Turkish media, the fighting is still taking place in southern Israel.
