Gaza’s bloody Sunday: the highest number of victims since the beginning of the conflict
In a single day, over 40 deaths in air raids launched by Israeli jets on the Strip. In one week, over 3,000 rockets were fired by Hamas in Israeli territory. The updated toll is 218 Palestinian victims, including 58 minors and 34 women, more than 1230 injured. On the Israeli front 10 dead. The UN Security Council meeting ends with nothing.
Gaza (AsiaNews / Agencies) – It was a Bloody Sunday in Gaza, with "the highest number of victims" in just one day since the start of the new conflict between the Israeli army and Hamas.
Official Palestinian sources report that yesterday over 40 deaths were recorded in air strikes launched by Israeli air force fighters on various areas of the Strip: yet another response to the more than 3,000 rockets launched from the Palestinian enclave into Israeli territory in the last week.
The attacks continued into the early hours of today, with Israeli fighters launching 80 air strikes in several areas of Gaza City. A retaliation that follows Hamas' previous rocket delivery to southern Israel.
The updated toll provided by the Ministry of Health of the Territories speaks of 218 Palestinian deaths (197 of which in Gaza); of these, at least 58 are minors or children, over 34 are women. There are more than 1230 injured. There are 10 victims on the Israeli front, including two children killed by Hamas rockets.
The attacks launched yesterday by Israeli fighters hit a busy street in Gaza, causing the collapse of at least three buildings and dozens of deaths.
At the same time, millions of Israelis have locked themselves up in underground shelters or in safe places while sirens warned of the arrival of new rockets from the Strip.
Army sources report that they have targeted leaders and infrastructures linked to the Palestinian extremist movement: the homes of some Hamas leaders including Yahya Sinwar and his brother Muhammad Sinwar have been hit.
Interim Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who emerges strengthened from the military crisis when a new parliamentary coalition seemed about to oust him from office, stresses that "the operation in Gaza will still take time".
He then added that Israel "has the support of the United States" and will continue the operation "as long as necessary to restore calm".
The call for calm comes from American diplomacy, with US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfiel speaking of a "devastating [...] human price" in the last week and "the current cycle of violence must end”.
Lastly, yesterday, the meeting - postponed in recent days - of the United Nations Security Council was held, which was attended by Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process Tor Wennesland. Guterres feared the risk of an "irrepressible crisis" and called for an immediate end to "appalling violence".
The summit ended with nothing, because the Council was not able to agree on a public declaration - to be adopted by consensus - on the ongoing conflict even this time; during the session there was a new clash between the diplomacy policies of China and the United States.
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17/05/2021 10:29
28/07/2021 09:19
