Israel and Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip exchanged fire on Thursday, the day after an operation launched by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank that killed eleven Palestinians. occurred during the Israeli operation in the West Bank since 2005.
These acts of violence came after rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel, followed by Israeli air strikes at dawn on Thursday, but no casualties or deaths were reported in the skirmish.
Ahead of these nightly events, UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed concern that the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories is now “flaming” more than at any time in recent years.
The European Union called on “all parties (to work) to restore calm and reduce tensions.”
For its part, Paris urged “all participants to refrain from any action that could ignite” violence, while the United States expressed “deep concern” about the level of violence in the West Bank.
At the invitation of the Factional Coordinating Committee, which includes representatives of the Palestinian factions, a strike was held in several areas of the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, as an expression of “anger over the occupation massacre in Nablus, Jabal al-Nar, revolutionaries and free, and in honor of the souls of heroic martyrs.
Since the beginning of this year, sixty Palestinians, including militants and civilians, including minors, nine civilians and one policeman, two Israelis, including three minors, and a Ukrainian woman have been killed in acts of violence and clashes. to an AFP count based on official Israeli and Palestinian sources.
“Our immediate task is to prevent further escalation, reduce tensions and restore calm,” Guterres said.
On Wednesday afternoon in Nablus, a crowd of armed men attended the funeral of nine who died during the Israeli military operation, and the tenth was buried in tears in the nearby Balata refugee camp.
On the other hand, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported the “death of a young man, Muhammad Nabil Fawzi Abu Sabah (30 years old)” from “severe wounds received as a result of occupation period live bullets in the stomach” about two weeks ago in Jenin.
Since the beginning of the year, 61 Palestinians, including militants and civilians, including minors, have died in violence and clashes, along with ten Israelis, nine Israeli civilians, including three minors and one police officer, and a Ukrainian woman. , according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli and Palestinian sources.
Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh condemned the “deliberate and brutal act” on Twitter and called on the international community to “intervene immediately.”