Israel declared a state of war on Saturday after Palestine’s Hamas launched a series of attacks from the Gaza Strip, killing 250 people and injuring 1,100 others, including critical cases, in Israel, according to an Israeli medical source. Israeli media reported that Palestinian fighters infiltrated Israeli settlements near the Gaza border and kidnapped soldiers and settlers, while clashes continued in Ashkelon.
Israel responded with airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, where the Palestinian Health Ministry said that 198 people were killed and 1610 injured by the Israeli shelling. This is the most violent escalation between Israel and Gaza since May.
The Israeli army announced that it was calling up reserve forces and holding an urgent consultation at the military headquarters in Tel Aviv. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel was facing a “war” and that Hamas would pay an “unprecedented price”.
Hamas, which controls Gaza, said that it was defending the Palestinian people from Israeli aggression and occupation.
Egypt warned of the serious risks of the ongoing escalation and called for exercising maximum restraint and avoiding exposing civilians to further risks. Egypt also urged the international actors involved in supporting the peace process to intervene immediately to stop the violence and called on Israel to stop the attacks and provocative actions against the Palestinians.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi received a phone call from French President Emmanuel Macron, who discussed the efforts to de-escalate the situation and prevent more casualties. The two presidents expressed deep concern about the deterioration of events and stressed the need for all international and regional efforts to focus on de-escalation and restraint.
The UN Security Council is scheduled to meet on Sunday to discuss the crisis. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged diplomatic efforts in the Middle East to prevent the expansion of the conflict.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry held intensive contact with his counterparts and several international officials on Saturday to work to stop the escalation between the Palestinians and Israelis.
Shoukry spoke with the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, who discussed the dangerous developments since Friday evening. Shoukry stressed the importance of halting the escalation and exercising restraint on all sides, because of the serious risks involved.
Shoukry also spoke with the foreign ministers of Jordan, UAE, France, Germany, Turkey, Russia, and Spain to consult and coordinate on de-escalation efforts. He briefed them on the contacts being made by Egypt to stop the violence and contain the crisis. He said that all international and regional efforts should focus on de-escalation and restraint, to prevent more casualties and loss of control.
The foreign ministers expressed their deep concern about the deterioration of events and agreed on the need to exert all efforts to prevent the situation from getting out of hand and exposing civilians to more risks and threats.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said that the root cause of the crisis was the absence of a solution to the Palestinian issue after 75 years of suffering and displacement, the policy of double standards, the silence of the international community on the Israeli practices against the Palestinians, and the injustice and oppression that they face. It said that this was the reason for the explosion of the situation and the lack of peace and security in the region.
