NRC latest to call for end to violence on Gaza Strip

The Norwegian Refugee Council on Thursday called for an end to the recent escalation of violence on the Gaza Strip.

For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

“We appeal to all parties for an immediate ceasefire to spare lives. Indiscriminate attacks against civilians in Gaza and Israel must stop,” Caroline Ort, NRC’s country director for Palestine, said in a statement.

“There is hardly a home or a street in Gaza that has not seen death or destruction. Poverty and unemployment are on the rise as endless cycles of violence push people to a breaking point,” she added.

The statement comes amid increasing violence between Israel and Palestinian militants.

Palestinian militants fired hundreds of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel on Wednesday, while Israel pressed ahead with a series of airstrikes that have killed 21 Palestinians, including three senior militants and at least 10 civilians.

The Palestinian group Islamic Jihad announced on Thursday the death of one of its military leaders in a pre-dawn strike carried out by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, part of an operation that has killed 25 people including women and children this week.

Renewed conflict in Gaza shows that the “international community has failed in preventing Israel from using unnecessary lethal force against civilians,” Ort added urging both sides to abide by international law and distinguish between international law to avoid civilian casualties.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned civilian deaths in Gaza as “unacceptable” and appealed for it to “stop immediately” and for all parties to exercise maximum restraint, Deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Wednesday.

Read more:

Israeli-Palestinian fighting continues, despite Egyptian ceasefire announcement

Young Gaza man mourns fiancee killed in Israeli strikes

Israeli military renews strikes on Gaza Strip killing at least one