UN contacts with Egypt to deescalate confrontation between Gaza, Israel
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace
Process Nickolay Mladenov announced that the organization is conducting
“intensive” contact with Egypt to deescalate the confrontation between Gaza
Strip and Israel.
He announced his rejection to the escalation saying
in his official Twitter account “Today's firing of a rocket from Gaza towards
#Israel, which hit a house north of Tel Aviv and injured seven people, is
absolutely unacceptable. This is an extremely serious incident! UN is working
intensely with Egypt and all sides but situation remains VERY tense.”
Early Monday, Israel announced a long-range rocket
was fired from Gaza on southern Tel Aviv, wounding six Israeli people. The
rocket was launched few minutes after Israeli put on air raid sirens and
accused Hamas of launching a rocket from the strip, Reuters reported. Israeli
troops were deployed along the border between Gaza and Israel.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the leaders
of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) voiced their concerns over the
latest escalation, despite the efforts Egypt are exerting to deescalate the
situation, said the PLO Executive Committee in a statement on Monday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu aims to
exploit the latest developments in his favor amid the upcoming Israeli election
due in April, the statement added.
