Pakistan on Tuesday strongly condemned Israel’s deadly airstrikes on Gaza that killed over 400 innocent Palestinians, mostly women and children, ending weeks of relative calm after talks to secure a permanent ceasefire stalled.
The strikes hit homes and tent encampments from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip, and Israeli tanks shelled from across the borderline, witnesses said.
Gaza’s health ministry said 404 people had been killed in one of the biggest single-day tolls since the war erupted.
Israel and Hamas each accused the other of breaching the truce, which had broadly held since January, offering respite from war for the 2 million inhabitants of Gaza, where most buildings have been reduced to rubble.
Israel consulted US on its strikes in Gaza, White House told Fox News
Condemning the deadly air strike, the Foreign Office said this “horrific act of aggression, in the holy month of Ramadan, is a flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement and marks a dangerous escalation that threatens to destabilize the entire region once again.”
The FO urged the international community to play its role to immediately end the violence and resume diplomatic efforts towards an immediate and lasting peace in Gaza and the Middle East.
Truce standoff
Negotiating teams from Israel and Hamas had been in Doha as mediators from Egypt and Qatar sought to bridge the gap between the two sides after the end of an initial phase in the ceasefire, which saw 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais released in exchange for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
With the backing of the United States, Israel had been pressing for the return of the remaining hostages in exchange for a truce until after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover holiday in April.
However, Hamas has insisted on moving to negotiations for a permanent end to the war and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, under the terms of the original ceasefire agreement.
On Tuesday, Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif Al-Qanoua told Reuters the group was still in touch with mediators, and it was keen to complete the implementation of the original deal.
Egyptian mediators were engaged in intense contacts to salvage the ceasefire, two Egyptian security sources said.
The Israeli campaign in Gaza has killed more than 48,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, and destroyed much of the housing and infrastructure in the enclave, including the hospital system.
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