Netanyahu unwavering despite international calls for immediate ceasefire – “Day of Rage” for Fatah calling for mobilizations in predominantly Arab cities – Borrell-Blinken telephone call to end hostilities
Stretching his legs, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes it clear that his government’s “line” is to continue to strike at terrorists as international diplomatic efforts intensify for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip .
The Israeli army continued its bombardment of the Gaza Strip with undiminished intensity overnight, as well as rockets fired by Palestinian armed groups against Israeli cities.
Fighting has spread to the West Bank, where clashes between the Israeli army and Palestinians have killed 20 people in a week, according to the Palestinian side’s latest report .
The Palestinian group Fatah called for a ” day of rage ” and declared a general strike today, calling for mobilizations in predominantly Arab and ” mixed ” cities in Israel, where tensions continue.
Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell had a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken today to end hostilities.
“We also discussed how to reduce tensions between Israel and the Palestinians ,” Borrell wrote on Twitter, according to the Times of Israel.
EU foreign ministers are meeting in a teleconference today to discuss troubling developments in the Middle East.
The UN Security Council is expected to meet again for the fourth time – in camera – as the United States continues to refuse to support a a joint statement calling for an end to the violence.
Biden is in favor of a ceasefire
However, US President Joe Biden, who has been accused by many in his party of not being as strict as he should be with Israel, called for a “ceasefire” in a new telephone conversation with the Israeli prime minister .
As of last Monday, a new round of violence between the Jewish state and Palestinian organizations in the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave has left at least 221 people, the vast majority of Palestinians, dead, including 61 children and more than 1,400 have been injured.
On the Israeli side, ten people have been killed, including a child, while 294 others have been injured.
During the night, Israeli Air Force fighter jets fired several rockets at buildings in the city of Gaza with successive explosions illuminating the sky of the coastal enclave, French Agency reporters reported.
Israeli missiles have opened craters on roads and have also caused extensive damage to the power grid, plunging the Gaza Strip into darkness almost entirely.
According to the Times of Israel, the Israeli army has announced that it has so far neutralized 150 terrorists in Gaza, mostly members of Hamas.
Since the start of hostilities, some 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced and 2,500 have lost their homes as a result of the bombings.
Hamas has threatened to fire more rockets at Tel Aviv if the Israeli Air Force does not ” stop targeting civilians “.
For its part, the Israeli military says it is bombing what it calls the “subway” of Palestinian fighters, underground tunnels that, according to Tel Aviv, allow the Hamas military arm to move ammunition and weapons, as well as the homes of Hamas officials , which says they are also used ” to store weapons “.
