EU calls for restraint in Gaza as civilian death toll rises

BRUSSELS (AA) – The European Union has called for restraint “from all sides” to prevent more casualties in the Israel-occupied Gaza Strip.

“The EU calls for maximum restraint on all sides in order to avoid a further escalation and further casualties,” in and around Gaza, the lead spokesperson of the bloc’s diplomatic service, Peter Stano, said in a statement.

The text pointed out that the bloc “follows with great concern” the ongoing escalation which “has already led to a number of casualties, with a number of people killed, including civilians and a five-year-old Palestinian girl.”

While acknowledging Israel’s “right to protect its civilian population”, Stano cautioned that a “broader conflict” with more causalities and suffering on both sides should be avoided.

He also reiterated the EU’s call for dialogue “to restore a political horizon and to ensure a sustainable situation” in the region.

Twelve Palestinians have been killed and over 80 people injured in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip since Friday. Victims include children, women and other innocent civilians.

There have been no Israeli casualties or reports of any attacks inside Israel.

Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes in the area citing an “imminent threat of attack” by the Islamic Jihad group. The group, however, has denied any such threat and has refuted the Israeli claim that it ‘misfired’ a rocket into Israel.

Tensions have been high across the Palestinian territories since August 1, when Israeli forces detained Bassam al-Saadi, a senior leader of Islamic Jihad, in a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.