Arab and International Parties Call for Cease-Fire between Israel and Gaza Strip

The US State Department said it continues to call on the Palestinians and Israelis to take steps to reduce violence.

The European Union calls for an “immediate truce”

• European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called Thursday for an “immediate truce” to stop Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip and the firing of rockets at Israel..
• Borrell said in a statement: “We urge an immediate and comprehensive cease-fire that will end the Israeli military operations in Gaza, and the current rocket fire into Israel, which is unacceptable.”
• The European official also called for “respect for international humanitarian law,” according to the agency, “Agence France Presse.”

4 countries call for an end to the “bloodshed” in Gaza

• The foreign ministers of Germany, France, Egypt and Jordan called, Thursday, for an end to the violence between Israel and the armed factions in Gaza.
• German Foreign Minister Analina Baerbock said after talks with her counterparts in Berlin that “the bloodshed must stop now.”“.
• Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said, “Negative developments must stop, peace must be revived“.
• Al-Safadi added, “It is necessary to calm the situation and take confidence-building measures that may lead to a political horizon in order to achieve peace.”.
• Later, the foreign ministers, in a joint statement, expressed their “grave concern” about the escalation.

• The ministers added: “We urge an immediate and comprehensive cease-fire, which puts an end to the Israeli military operations in Gaza and the indiscriminate firing of rockets at Israel,” praising the efforts made by Egypt to stop the bombing..
• The Ministers condemned “the deterioration of the security situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel, and the ongoing developments in Gaza, which have unacceptably resulted in civilian casualties, including women and children.”“.
• The four countries announced that they would “work with all parties to pave the way for the resumption of a credible political process.”“.

“Everything that causes stress must stop.”

• The ministers of the four countries stressed “the necessity of putting an end to everything that causes tension and provokes violence, including unilateral measures that undermine the feasibility of a two-state solution and prospects for a just and sustainable peace.”“.
• He called on Israeli and Palestinian ministers to “strictly implement” commitments they made in Jordan in February and renewed in Egypt in March, in order to avoid further violence..

field developments

• On Thursday, Israel carried out air strikes on the Gaza Strip, from which a new batch of rockets were launched, in an exchange of shelling that killed 6 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, including two leaders of the Islamic Jihad movement..
• Thus, the death toll in the escalation that began on Tuesday, the most violent since August 2022, rose to 28 on the Palestinian side, including children..
• According to the IDF, more than 550 rockets were fired from the Strip into Israel.
• The army confirmed that “of these missiles, 440 rockets crossed the border, while the Iron Dome system intercepted 154 rockets, while 5 rockets fell inside the Strip.”.
• On Thursday, the “Islamic Jihad” movement said that rockets were fired again at Israel at around 9:00 (6:00 GMT)..
• An Israeli was killed after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a building in the Rehovot settlement near Tel Aviv, Thursday, according to Israeli media.