isreal-Palestine
EKO HOT BLOG reports that Pope Francis on Sunday renewed his calls for Hamas to release Israeli hostages and for Israel to spare Gaza civilians amid the ongoing warfare.
“I continue to follow with great sorrow what is happening in Israel and Palestine,” he wrote on X, adding, “I renew my appeal for the freeing of the hostages and I strongly ask that children, the sick, the elderly, women, and all civilians not be made victims of the conflict.”
The pope said, “Humanitarian law is to be respected, especially in Gaza.”
In a separate post shortly after, he added, “Please, let no more innocent blood be shed, neither in the Holy Land nor in Ukraine, nor in any other place! Enough! Wars are always a defeat, always!”
The death toll in the war between Israel and Hamas has nearly hit 4,000, and the number of injured victims has soared beyond 10,000, even as Israel readies for a ground invasion of Gaza.
NBC News reports that at least 2,670 people were killed and another 9,600 wounded in Gaza, according to the latest numbers from Gaza’s Ministry of Health, which also said that more than half of those killed (52 per cent) were women and children.
The report added that more than 1,400 people had been killed in Israel and 3,500 wounded, according to the Israeli prime minister’s press office. The office also said at least 120 people had been abducted.
The Israeli military said on Sunday it had confirmed 155 people were being held hostage by Hamas since the Palestinian militant group staged its deadly attack last week, AFP reports.
Families of “155 hostages” have been contacted by the authorities, military spokesman Daniel Hagari said, updating an earlier figure confirming 126 hostages.
Meanwhile, China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, called on Israel to “stop the collective punishment of Gaza” and called for all parties to “return to the negotiating table as soon as possible.”
Wang said Beijing was “communicating intensively with all parties to promote a ceasefire and an end to the war,” according to a readout of a call he made to Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, provided by the Chinese Foreign Ministry late Friday.
“Israel’s actions have gone beyond the scope of self-defence, and it should seriously listen to the calls of the international community and the United Nations Secretary-General to stop collective punishment of the people of Gaza,” the readout said.In the same vein, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly urged Israel to avoid causing civilian casualties as it prepares for a ground invasion of Gaza.
“I have said it’s in Israel’s interest to avoid civilian casualties and Palestinian casualties because Hamas clearly wants to turn this into a wider Arab-Israeli war or indeed a war between the Muslim world and the wider world and none of us, including Israel, want that to be the case,” he said.
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