U.N. chief demands Israel-Gaza attacks ‘cease immediately’

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres is “gravely concerned” by the surge in violence in Israel and the Gaza Strip, his spokesperson says.”

He is deeply saddened to learn of the increasingly large numbers of casualties, including children, from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, and of Israeli fatalities from rockets launched from Gaza.”

Guterres calls on Israeli security forces to “exercise maximum restraint” in their use of force and condemns Hamas rocket launches towards Israeli populations as “unacceptable.”

“This spiralling escalation must cease immediately,” the U.N. chief ’s spokesperson says.

The cross-border violence, which erupted on Monday following weeks of rising tensions in the contested city of Jerusalem, is the worst the volatile region has experienced in years.

More than two dozen Palestinians have been killed in the last day, including several children. Two Israeli women died from Gaza rocket fire on Tuesday.

Hundreds of rockets were fired upon Israel from Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip throughout Tuesday, as Israel pummeled the tiny coastal territory with airstrikes and the death toll mounted on both sides.

Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abul-Gheit has blamed Israel for the recent escalation of violence and urged the United Nations Security Council to intervene.

“During the past weeks, there has not been a single incident in which violence began on the Palestinian side. There has not been a single incident in which the Palestinians initiated provocation or escalation,” Abul-Gheit told a meeting by the Arab foreign ministers held via a video link.

He blamed Israeli “reckless policies” and urged the international community to stop blaming both the Israelis and the Palestinians.

“It is the occupying party that has military power and de facto control, and it is the same party, which initiates violence and provocation. What we have witnessed is, clearly and frankly, a provocation by the Israeli occupation forces that targeted the holiest Islamic site during the holiest month for Muslims,” he said, referring to the fasting month of Ramadan, which will end this week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacks on Gaza, which he says have targeted hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad positions since Monday, would intensify.

“We are in the middle of the battle,” Netanyahu said. Militant commanders had been killed and key lines hit, he said.

An Israeli military spokesperson said later that at least 20 members from the two groups have been killed so far in Gaza, including senior officials, and some 150 missile-launchers had been destroyed.

Many of the targets were located in places where civilians reside, spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said, so civilian casualties could not be ruled out, though he said the army was trying hard to avoid them.