European Union foreign ministers will hold urgent video talks on the escalating fighting between Israel and the Palestinians on Tuesday, the bloc’s foreign policy chief said.
“In view of the ongoing escalation between Israel and Palestine and the unacceptable number of civilian casualties, I am convening an extraordinary VTC of the EU Foreign Ministers on Tuesday. We will coordinate and discuss how the EU can best contribute to end the current violence,” Josep Borrell wrote on Twitter Sunday.
Hostilities have now stretched into a seventh day in the region with no clear end in sight.
Gaza health officials said that 26 Palestinians, including eight children, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Sunday and rockets were fired into Israel.
Israel’s military said on Sunday that it bombed overnight the home of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza.
In a statement, an Israeli military spokesperson said that war jets and aircraft struck more than 90 sites belonging to Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian group that runs Gaza, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant group, over the past 24 hours.
So far, a total of 174 Palestinians, including 47 children, have been killed in the conflicts and Israel has reported 10 dead, including two children.
Israel has claimed that it’s not targeting civilians and most of those killed in Gaza are terrorists.
(With input from agencies)
