WARNING: Tor Wennesland is the special coordinator for the Middle East peace process. Now he warns against “full war”. Photo: Guri Solberg / UD
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Special coordinator for the peace process in the Middle East, Norwegian Tor Wennesland, warns that the conflict between Israel and militant groups in Gaza is heading for “full war”.
Just updated
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– Stop shooting immediately. We are escalating towards full war. Leaders on both sides must take responsibility for de-escalation. The cost of war in Gaza is devastating and ordinary people are paying the price. The UN is working with all sides to restore calm now. Stop the violence now, he writes on Twitter.
The Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East has posted Twitter messages hans.
VG has tried to get a further comment from Wennesland. He states by phone that he does not have time to elaborate on the Twitter message because he has to deal with the situation.
Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide announced earlier Tuesday night that a new emergency meeting will be held in the Security Council. According to Reuters, the meeting will take place on Wednesday.
Eriksen Søreide has condemned all attacks on civilians and urged both sides to take measures that de-escalate the situation before more civilians lose their lives.
More than 30 Palestinians killed
The health authorities in the Gaza Strip announced on Tuesday night that at least 30 Palestinians had been killed, among them ten children. 203 must be damaged.
More than 500 rockets have been fired from Gaza at Israel, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel has hit “hundreds” of targets in Gaza.
BACKGROUND: Nine children in Gaza killed in tonight’s rocket attack: – The people of Gaza have already paid enough
Tuesday afternoon collapsed a 13-story apartment block in Gaza after an air strike. Pictures from the site showed thick, dark smoke rising from the area around the block, and that the block collapsed.
The apartment block will, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz house an office used by the political leadership of the Hamas movement.
The Israeli army is said to have asked civilians to evacuate from the building, but it is currently unclear whether the building was completely evacuated before it collapsed, or whether any people were injured or killed as a result of the attack.
MORE BACKGROUND:
Rocket attack on Tel Aviv
Throughout the evening, the attacks between Israel and Gaza have continued with ever-increasing force. Shortly after the attack on the apartment block in Gaza, Hamas announced an air strike on Tel Aviv.
So far, it has been confirmed that three Israeli civilians have been killed in bombings in the cities of Ashkelon and Holon.
One of the rockets sent from the Gaza Strip was said to have hit a bus in Holon. The Israeli newspaper Times of Israel writes that at least six people were injured in the rockets that hit Holon. Among them is a five-year-old girl.
According to The Jerusalem post more than 90 Israelis were injured in the attacks.
“We are now fulfilling our promise by launching a massive rocket attack on Tel Aviv and the surrounding area with 130 rockets, in response to the enemy attacking apartment blocks,” the armed unit of Hamas said in a statement Tuesday night.
Later Tuesday night, Israel warned of an impending attack on the Al-Jawhara building in Gaza City, where several Palestinian media outlets have offices.
An hour later, according to Palestinian journalists, two rockets were fired from Israeli drones at the building, which also houses apartments. No deaths or injuries were reported.
READ THE REPORT: As violence escalates between Gaza and Israel, relatives bury their dead
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