The United Nations and Egypt were working together to prevent the situation in Gaza from escalating further, U.N. special envoy to the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov said on Saturday after hundreds of rockets were fired on Israel, prompting Israeli airstrikes.
"The United Nations is working with Egypt and all sides to calm the situation. I call on all parties to immediately de-escalate and return to the understandings of the past few months. Those who seek to destroy them will bear responsibility for a conflict that will have grave consequences for all," Mladenov said in a statement as the fighting between Israel, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad continued.
'This is clearly far from being over.'
How far will this Israeli-#Hamas escalation go? What's #Israel doing to prepare in the meantime to protect its citizens? @jregevi24news updates @SaWilliamson9: #Gaza pic.twitter.com/Yku9YLljUP
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The escalation "jeopardizes the significant progress made in recent weeks to relieve the suffering of people in Gaza, lift the closures, and support intra-Palestinian reconciliation," the U.N. envoy concluded.
Meanwhile, an Egyptian intelligence official told Israel Hayom that Israel "refuses" to discuss cease-fire terms and that an escalation was therefore "inevitable."
According to Gazan health officials, five Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes. An Israeli was killed by a direct hit from a rocket on Ashkelon Sunday morning.
This article was originally published by i24NEWS. Read more at https://www.i24news.tv/en
