International diplomacy was active Thursday, May 20 on the ground and behind the scenes to try to put an end to the murderous military escalation between Israel and Hamas, in power in the Gaza Strip, this Palestinian micro-territory of two million d ‘inhabitants under Israeli blockade, after numerous bombings.
The UN General Assembly, which met at 4 p.m. at the ministerial level, qualified by the voice of its secretary general, Antonio Guterres, of“Unacceptable” continued Israeli and Palestinian fire. The Israeli security cabinet, in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country’s main security officials will participate, is meeting in the evening to discuss a possible ceasefire, as indicated by official sources.
After the call of the American president, Joe Biden, in favor of a ” de-escalation “ immediate in these clashes which left at least 240 dead in ten days (the vast majority of Palestinians) and the refusal of Washington to support a resolution of France at the UN, the head of German diplomacy, Heiko Maas, arrived in the morning in Tel Aviv. Mr. Maas argued that the Israeli strikes in Gaza fell within the “Right to self-defense”, while calling for a rapid cessation of hostilities. He was expected in the evening in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, for a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said in a telephone interview on Thursday they supported efforts for a “Rapid cease-fire” in the clashes in the Middle East. ” Chancellor, [Angela] Merkel, and the president, [Mahmoud] Abbas, agreed that initiatives for an early ceasefire should continue to be supported. The Chancellor stressed Israel’s right to defend itself against rocket attacks fired from the Gaza Strip ”Chancellor spokesperson Steffen Seibert said in a statement.
UN General Assembly Meeting
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, said before the General Assembly of the organization that “The clashes had to end immediately”. “I am deeply shocked by the continuous aerial bombardment and artillery fire carried out by the Israeli Defense Forces in Gaza.”Mr. Guterres said. To date, more than 200 Palestinians have been killed, including around 60 children.
“Continued indiscriminate rocket fire by Hamas and other militant groups at population centers in Israel”, which killed a dozen, including two children, “Is also unacceptable”, added Mr. Guterres. “If there is hell on earth, it is the lives of children in Gaza”, he estimated.
The General Assembly meeting, attended by a dozen ministers, was called at the request of Niger, which chairs the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and Algeria, which chairs the Arab Group at the United Nations. “It is imperative to achieve de-escalation in order to avoid an uncontrollable cross-border security and humanitarian crisis”, added the UN secretary general. “We must work for a resumption of negotiations” to end up with “A two-state solution on the basis of the 1967 lines [avec Jérusalem pour capitale des deux pays] “, said Mr. Guterres.
Intense talks are also being led by Egypt, a country bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip, in order to put back on track the fragile truce that had been in effect in recent years.
“We expect a return to calm in the next few hours, or tomorrow [vendredi], but it depends on the end of the aggression of the occupying forces in Gaza and Jerusalem ”, said a senior Hamas official. “But there is nothing definitive for the moment”, added this source, indicating moreover that Qatar, emirate financing the assistance brought to Gaza and in which lives the leader of Hamas, Ismaïl Haniyeh, was at the heart “Intense” negotiations. The UN envoy for the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, was in Qatar, where he is to meet Ismail Haniyeh, diplomatic sources said.
Special meeting of the Human Rights Council
The Human Rights Council will meet next week in extraordinary session, the United Nations announced Thursday. The meeting, scheduled for May 27, is being organized at the request of Pakistan (in its capacity as coordinator of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation) and the Palestinian authorities, who have gathered enough signatures from the 47 member countries of the Council, a indicated the UN in a brief statement. At this meeting, countries will review the “Serious human rights situation” in the occupied Palestinian territories, including in East Jerusalem, it was specified.
Since its creation in June 2006, the Human Rights Council has already held 29 special sessions intended to respond to emergency situations, several of which have condemned Israel, in particular on the situation in Gaza. The previous extraordinary meeting dealing with the deterioration of “The human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories” dates back to May 2018. And the first extraordinary session of the Council, on July 5, 2006, also focused on the deterioration of the situation.
In a series of tweets, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Meirav Shahar, denounced a summons that “Testifies to the clearly anti-Israel agenda of this body” and called on member states to oppose the meeting. “Those who support this meeting are only rewarding the actions of Hamas, a terrorist organization”, she accused.
Palestinian territories: emergency health needs of $ 7 million
To respond to the – heightened – health crisis in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, the WHO Eastern Mediterranean office estimates, in a ” emergency call “, as needs “For a complete answer” are $ 7 million (5.73 million euros) over the next six months, in particular to finance the shipment of essential medical supplies to the Palestinian territories.
According to the WHO, it is necessary to send there trauma surgery equipment, but also to fight against the Covid-19 epidemic. The international organization also recommends “Training for medical personnel” (in order to manage the large number of injured), aid for the mental health sector, or the dispatch of specialized personnel.
The organization emphasizes that “42 health workers were injured and 24 hospitals or health centers were damaged”. In Gaza, the only laboratory carrying out tests for Covid-19 was hit on Monday by an Israeli strike. According to the Ministry of Health, the current strikes do not allow its teams to follow up on people infected with the coronavirus or to continue the vaccination campaign.
Palestinian family decimated, rocket fire at Israel
This cycle of violence between Israel and Gaza was sparked after Hamas fired bursts of rockets into the Hebrew state on May 10, in solidarity with the hundreds of Palestinians injured in clashes with Israeli police on the Israeli plaza. Mosques, Jerusalem’s third holiest site, in the Palestinian sector of Jerusalem occupied by Israel for more than fifty years.
On the night of Wednesday to Thursday, fighter jets struck the homes of at least six Hamas leaders, according to the IDF, while the Islamist movement claimed responsibility for mortar, rocket and gunfire on Thursday morning. artillery after a few hours of pause – including a heavy salvo in the direction of the city of Beer-Sheva (southern Israel).
Earlier in Gaza, a Palestinian family was decimated in Deir al-Balah. Eyad Saleha, in a wheelchair, Amani, his pregnant wife, and Nagham, their three-year-old daughter, were killed in a raid on the Gaza Strip, according to local authorities.
The Red Cross estimated that the populations in Gaza and Israel had a “Urgent need of respite”, adding in a statement that it informed Israel and Hamas that from Thursday its personnel would move “To provide a response to urgent needs”. “It is the responsibility of both parties to facilitate such movements for us”, added the Red Cross. Since the start of the clashes on May 10, at least 227 Palestinians, including some 60 children and Hamas fighters, have died in the Israeli strikes, while 12 people have lost their lives in Israel, the Palestinian movements of Gaza. firing more than 4,000 rockets into Israeli territory.