World and regional leaders continued their frantic search for a sustainable solution in Gaza as the besieged Palestinian territory is being relentlessly pounded by an Israeli military offensive, which has lasted over two weeks.
The UN Security Council has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after an emergency closed door meeting.
Over 100 Palestinians were killed on July 20, the bloodiest day since Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on July 8. So far over 500 people have died in Palestine, with around 3,000 reported to be wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
For Israel too, July 20 was a day of great loss as 13 soldiers died in a single day, the highest for Israel in one day. It has now lost 18 soldiers and two civilians since the conflict began.
The loss of so many solider is expected to put additional pressure on Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has adamantly vowed to continue operations. The violence continued on July 21 as 20 Palestinians were killed by new strikes.
Israel launched Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, saying it would selectively target the Hamas’ network of tunnels and missile launch-pads but has enlarged the scope of the operation since then.
More than 60 Palestinians were killed on July 20 during heavy shelling in the Shejaiya district, between Gaza City and the Israeli border. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called it “a massacre”.
The UN Security Council has intensified its efforts and called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after an emergency closed door meeting. However, the Security Council’s resolve to take action looks thin, as it could muster only a weak condemnation of the violence.
An increasingly worried US President Barak Obama has sent US Secretary of State John Kerry back to the region to help break the stalemate. He, along with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and other regional leaders are expected to be in Egypt on July 21, to push regional efforts to end violence.
They will aim to resume a truce between Israel and Palestine, mediated by Egypt in November 2012.
Terming Israel’s shelling of heavily populated area in Gaza as “atrocious action”, Ban Ki-moon as called for an immediate ceasefire.
He added: “Israel must exercise maximum restraint. I repeat my demands to all sides that they must respect international humanitarian law. The violence must stop now.”
Earlier on July 20, Ban was in Doha were he met Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah before heading for Egypt.
According to the UN, more than 100,000 people in Gaza have been displaced by the conflict.
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