220 Palestinians martyred in Israeli barbarism amid no sign of abating
Palestinians across Israel and the occupied territories went on strike in a rare collective action
(Dunya News) – The death toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since the start of the offensive on the Gaza Strip has risen to 220, including 63 children and 36 women, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
At least 220 Palestinians, including 63 children, have been killed in Gaza since the attacks began. About 1,500 Palestinians have been wounded. Twelve people in Israel have died, including two children, while at least 300 have been wounded.
Amid no sign of abating and truce efforts apparently stalled, Palestinians across Israel and the occupied territories went on strike in a rare collective action against Israel’s policies. The general strike and expected protests could further widen the conflict after a spasm of communal violence in Israel and protests across the occupied West Bank last week.
A new front in the conflict opened as the Israeli military said it also shelled Lebanon in response to six failed rocket launches from southern areas in the neighbouring country.
Since the fighting began last week, the Israeli military has launched hundreds of airstrikes targeting innocent Palestinians.
Israel continued its airstrikes into Gaza, leaving behind a massive mound of rebar and concrete slabs in its attack on the six-story building that housed bookstores and educational centers used by the Islamic University and other colleges. Desks, office chairs, books and computer wires could be seen in the debris. Residents sifted through the rubble, searching for their belongings.
US President Joe Biden, having resisted joining other world leaders and much of his own Democratic party in calling for an immediate end to hostilities, told Netanyahu Monday night he backs a ceasefire, but stopped short of demanding a truce.
Biden s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said he had spoken to his Israeli counterpart and the Egyptian government, a key intermediary, on Monday, saying that Washington was engaged in "quiet, intensive diplomacy".
Palestinians across the West Bank and in east Jerusalem mobilised Tuesday for protests and a general strike that shuttered non-essential businesses, in support of those under bombardment in Gaza.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas s Fatah movement had called for a "day of anger", a call echoed in Arab and ethnically mixed towns inside Israel. "We are here to raise our voice and stand with the people in Gaza who are being bombed," Ramallah protester Aya Dabour said.
Bloody Hands
Turkey s Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday said US President Joe Biden had "bloody hands" because of his support for Israel in the raging conflict in the Gaza Strip.
The Turkish president s comments represented one of his strongest attacks on Biden since his arrival in the White House in January.
Erdogan had spent the past few months trying to mend relations with Washington and reaching out to other Western allies after a year of sharp disputes. But he lashed out at Biden directly in a furious nationally televised address.
"You are writing history with your bloody hands," Erdogan said in remarks addressed to the US president. "You forced us to say this. Because we can not stay silent on this anymore."
52,000 displaced in Gaza
More than 52,000 Palestinians have been displaced by Israeli air strikes that have destroyed or badly damaged nearly 450 buildings in the Gaza Strip, the U.N. aid agency said on Tuesday.
In a separate statement on the conflict, rights group Amnesty International said Israel air strikes on residential buildings might amount to war crimes. Israel says it hits only legitimate military targets and that it does all it can to avoid civilian casualties.
About 47,000 of the displaced people have sought shelter in 58 U.N.-run schools in Gaza, Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva, told reporters.
Laerke said 132 buildings had been destroyed and 316 had been severely damaged, including six hospitals and nine primary healthcare centres as well a desalination plant, affecting access to drinking water for about 250,000 people.
EU mulls ways to help defuse tensions
European Union foreign ministers debated Tuesday how to use the 27-nation bloc’s political clout to help diplomatic efforts to end the fighting between the Israeli armed forces and Palestinian militants.
The EU has been united in its calls for a cease-fire and the need for a political solution to end the latest conflict — now in its second week — but the nations are divided over how best to help. No firm decisions involving threats of sanctions or other measures are likely from the ministers’ videoconference.
Before the meeting, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tweeted that he had an exchange with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on how the United States and the bloc “can jointly contribute to end violence” and to reduce tensions.
“Looking beyond, we also need longer term initiatives to break the dynamics of conflict and revive the prospect of a peaceful future for all,” wrote Borrell, who is chairing the meeting.
Egypt pledges $500mn to rebuild Gaza
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pledged Tuesday $500 million to help reconstruction efforts in Gaza, his office said, after a week of Israeli air strikes on the Palestinian enclave.
"Egypt will provide $500 million... for the reconstruction process in the Gaza Strip as a result of recent events, with expert Egyptian construction companies implementing the rebuilding," the presidency said in a statement.
Cairo has sought to mediate a ceasefire between Gaza s Islamist rulers Hamas and Israel since the deadly violence erupted on May 10.
Since then, Israeli air strikes have killed more than 200 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Twelve people have been killed on the Israeli side, according to authorities in the Jewish state.
