US envoy arrives for de-escalation talks | Sunday Observer
Israel-Gaza violence :

US envoy arrives for de-escalation talks

14 May, 2021

GAZA, May 15. (BBC) - A US envoy has arrived in Tel Aviv for de-escalation talks as unrest between Israel and the Palestinians continues.

Hady Amr will take part in talks with Israeli, Palestinian and UN officials and reinforce what US diplomats said was the need for a “Sustainable calm”.

Israeli air strikes on targets in the Gaza Strip killed 10 people on Saturday, while Palestinian militants there fired rockets into Israel.

This week’s violence in Gaza and Israel is the worst since 2014.

At least 136 people have been killed in Gaza and eight have died in Israel since the fighting began.

On Friday, clashes spread to the West Bank, with at least 11 Palestinians killed and hundreds injured. Israeli forces used teargas, rubber bullets and live fire, as Palestinians threw petrol bombs.

Saturday is the day when Palestinians commemorate what they call al-Nakba, the Catastrophe. It marks the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who were forced or driven from their homes in the Arab-Israeli war which began the day after Israel’s declaration of independence in 1948.The prospect for more trouble on Saturday is very real BBC diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams said.

Ten people died in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, with seven killed by an Israeli air strike at a refugee camp west of Gaza City, sources told the BBC.

A five-month-old baby is said to be the only survivor of that strike, found trapped in the rubble next to his dead mother. Several people were also reported missing.

Akram Farouq, 36, dashed out of his home in Gaza along with his family after a neighbour told him they had received a call from an Israeli officer warning their building would be hit, according to news agency reports.

“We haven’t slept all night because of the explosions, and now I am out in the street with my wife and children, who are weeping and trembling,” he said.

An estimated 10,000 Palestinians have left their homes in Gaza since Monday because of the conflict, according to the UN.

Israeli officials reported about 200 rocket launches from Gaza overnight, with homes hit in the cities of Ashdod, Beersheba and Sderot.

In Beersheba, 19 people were taken to hospital after getting slightly hurt while running to shelters, and three suffered from shock, The Times of Israel reports.

Israel has said a ground offensive in Gaza is one option being considered but a decision has yet to be made.

Amr’s arrival comes ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Sunday.

 

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