Over the last 24 hours, 28 Palestinians have been killed from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, and 3 Israelis have died from rocket fire with no signs of letting up as nightfall arrives. Beginning Monday night, over 400 rockets were fired from Gaza, and Israel said it struck around 150 sites in Gaza, marking the highest escalation in cross-fire in recent years, capable of spilling into a larger stage of conflict.
Matthias Schmale, the director of UNRWA Operations in the Gaza Strip and Lucia Elmi, UNICEF Special Representative in the State of Palestine, describe some of the casualties in a statement released this evening:
“Four of the children were siblings, and many attended the same UNRWA school. At least 25 children have been confirmed as injured, with many other injured children reported. The United Nations is currently verifying these reports. In southern Israel, at least one child in the city of Ashkelon was confirmed as injured. At least three schools have been reported as damaged, one in Israel and two in the Gaza Strip.”
The backdrop for this surge in violence is escalations in Jerusalem, where Israeli forces have been met by much criticism over confrontations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the particularly sensitive period around the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Just beyond the limestone walls of the Old City, nearly 30 Palestinians are under immediate risk of expulsion from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, a flashpoint over recent weeks.
At the start of this year, Israeli courts began upholding appeals from settler organizations who filed cases to remove Palestinians from the homes, citing a land law that allows Jewish property owners to reclaim buildings owned before 1948. However, the law does not extend the same right to Palestinians, causing renewed tensions within the city.
Gaza (where Imam Shafi’i was born 1200 years ago) Fights for Freedom
https://youtu.be/HnZSaKYmP2s