Blinken calls for de-escalation in call with Abbas

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated his call for de-escalation of tensions and urged and end to current violence in a phone call with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

In a statement issued late on Wednesday, Blinken also “expressed his condolences for the lives lost” as a result of the Israeli bombardment of the Palestinian territory of Gaza, while also condemning the deadly rocket attacks into Israel.

“The Secretary also expressed his belief that Palestinians and Israelis deserve equal measures of freedom, dignity, security and prosperity,” said Ned Price, the state department spokesman.

Urgent UN Security Council meeting on situation requested: AFP

Tunisia, Norway and China have requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting be scheduled for Friday, AFP news agency reported.

The session would be public and include participation by Israel and the Palestinians, diplomats told AFP.

The Council has already held two closed-door virtual meetings since Monday, with the United States opposing the adoption of a joint declaration, which it said would not “help de-escalate” the situation.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health said the overall death toll since the start of the latest offensive stood at 67, including 16 children. More than 300 others have been wounded.

At least six Israelis, including one child, have also been killed. The Israeli army said about 1,500 rockets have been fired from Gaza towards various locations in Israel and they have added reinforcements near the enclave’s eastern lands.

‘No safe space in the Gaza Strip’: DCI-Palestine

Defense for Children International-Palestine accused Israeli forces of showing “near-complete disregard for international law, deploying explosive weapons and attacking densely-populated civilian areas in Gaza” in its recent strikes on the Palestinian territory.

Ayed Abu Eqtaish, the group’s accountability programme director, said in a statement that Palestinian children and families are trying to seek shelter – but “there is no safe space in the Gaza Strip”.

“Palestinian children in Gaza increasingly bear the brunt of Israel’s repeated military offensives and a humanmade humanitarian crisis as a result of Israel’s closure policy toward the Gaza Strip,” he said.

AOC slams Biden for comment on Israel’s ‘right to defend itself’

US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, widely referred to as AOC, slammed US President Joe Biden for his comments earlier on Wednesday that Israel has “a right to defend itself” against rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.

Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that those types of statements, with “little context or acknowledgement of what precipitated the latest surge in violence … dehumanize Palestinians & imply the US will look the other way at human rights violations”.

Al Jazeera