Switzerland calls for de-escalation in latest Gaza violence
Rockets being fired from the Gaza strip this week.
Keystone / Mohammed Saber
The foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the fighting in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel was “alarming”, and called for the respect of international humanitarian law.
“Switzerland condemns the killing of Palestinian civilians, including children, by Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip since yesterday,” the foreign ministry wrote in a statementExternal link posted on Twitter on Wednesday.
It also condemned the “indiscriminate firing” of rockets into Israel from the Gaza strip, and said the flare-up had worsened an already “volatile situation”.
Militant Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired more than 200 rockets into Israeli territory on Wednesday, according to the Israeli military. Israel’s air force had previously attacked more than 100 targets in the Gaza Strip, and reportedly killed three senior members of the Islamic Jihad group on Tuesday night.
In total 20 Palestinians, including at least five women and five children, have been killed since Israel launched pre-dawn strikes on Tuesday, Palestinian health officials said on Wednesday.
The 15-member UN Security Council – which is being chaired by Switzerland this month – met behind closed doors on Wednesday over the latest violence.
Switzerland said it was in contact with both sides involved, and that it had appealed to them “to exercise maximum restraint and to work actively to restore calm”.
Egypt is working to mediate an end to the fighting.
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