'We’re escalating towards full scale war': UN envoy warns as death toll in Gaza rises

In the worst violence seen since the 2014 war, last night saw a barrage of Israeli missiles stream into Gaza, pushing the death toll up to 48 Palestinians - including 14 children and three women - according to the Health Ministry. More than 300 people have been wounded this week, including 86 children and 39 women.

Israeli air strikes toppled two high-rise buildings in Gaza City that it said were used by Hamas, but were home to over 80 Palestinian families. Given that Israel control construction resources and have the ability to build new infrastructure, any demolished buildings or homes are usually used to further Israeli territory, according to the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha).

Six Israelis, including three women and a child, were killed by Hamas retaliation rocket fire, and dozens of people were wounded. Following a serious escalation of the disastrous conflict, a UN envoy warned that the situation risked spiralling into “all-out war” reminiscent of 2014.

"Stop the fire immediately. We’re escalating towards a full scale war. Leaders on all sides have to take the responsibility of deescalation. The cost of war in Gaza is devastating & is being paid by ordinary people. UN is working w/ all sides to restore calm. Stop the violence now," Tor Wennesland, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, tweeted earlier today.

The latest eruption of violence began a number of weeks ago in Jerusalem, where heavy-handed police tactics during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers ignited protests and police brutality against Palestinians.

Tensions flared last weekend over a court case regarding evictions of Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah that coincided with an annual Israeli celebration this week called Jerusalem Day, which marks the country’s conquest of Arab East Jerusalem in 1967. The hearing has since been postponed.

A focal point of the violence this week was in the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a sacred holy site sacred to Muslims, which was targeted by Israeli police while Palestinians were praying. Their forces fired 40mm kinetic impact projectiles (KIPs) and concussion grenades into crowds gathered there for prayers on the last Friday of Ramadan.

On 10 May, more than 300 Palestinian protesters were injured when Israeli forces stormed al-Aqsa for the second time in days. Palestinian armed groups such Hamas then fired rockets and missiles into Israel, injuring at least one Israeli.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, later ordered an expansion of the country’s air campaign in the last day, saying that “Hamas will receive blows here that it did not expect."

Israel stepped up air strikes on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip after a massive rocket barrage over Tel Aviv last night.

At least 43 people have been reported killed in Gaza and 6 in Israel since fighting exploded on Monday https://t.co/ohavde7GGL pic.twitter.com/k07KcElfnK

— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) May 12, 2021

Amnesty International released a statement emphasising that "Israeli security forces have used repeated, unwarranted and excessive force against Palestinian protesters in occupied East Jerusalem" following four days of violence which saw 840 Palestinians injured.

"The organisation calls on Israeli authorities to immediately halt forced evictions in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah and end the ongoing forced displacement of Palestinians from East Jerusalem."

Amnesty International called on all parties to respect international humanitarian law and take all feasible precautions to avoid harming civilians.

“Evidence gathered by Amnesty International reveals a chilling pattern of Israeli forces using abusive and wanton force against largely peaceful Palestinian protesters in recent days. Some of those injured in the violence in East Jerusalem include bystanders or worshippers making Ramadan prayers,” said Saleh Higazi, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

“The latest violence brings into sharp focus Israel’s sustained campaign to expand illegal Israeli settlements and step up forced evictions of Palestinian residents – such as those in Sheikh Jarrah – to make way for Israeli settlers. These forced evictions are part of a continuing pattern in Sheikh Jarrah, they flagrantly violate international law and would amount to war crimes.”

Ireland has been called on by Dr Jilan Abdalmajid, ambassador from the Mission of the State of Palestine, to use its UN Security Council seat position to demand a halt to forced resettlements of Palestinian people in Jerusalem.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Government is “extremely concerned” by the violence in Israel and the forced resettlement by Israeli forces of Palestinian families in the region. However, he seemed to rule out using the UN Security Council as a method to vocalise the nation's concern for Palestine.

"If we want to make real progress on these issues, I think we should sometimes have a bit of self-respect for own traditions of diplomacy, which have stood us in good stead."