Africa-Press – Eswatini. The president of the African Union (AU) commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, called for an end to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, which has caused hundreds of deaths since Saturday, in a statement published on X (formerly Twitter).
Moussa Faki Mahamat asked the two parties to “return, without preconditions, to the negotiating table”, according to the same Saturday night publication by the representative of the bloc made up of 55 members, cited by AFP.
“The president (of the African Union commission) also calls on the international community, and the great world powers in particular, to assume their responsibilities to impose peace and guarantee the rights of both peoples”, adds the statement.
For Moussa Faki Mahamat, “the denial of the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people, in particular that of an independent and sovereign state, is the main cause of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian tension.”
Hamas attacked Israel by surprise on Saturday morning, firing thousands of rockets from the Gaza Strip, Palestinian territory under its control, and infiltrating hundreds of fighters into Israeli territory, where it also captured civilians and soldiers. The Israeli Army immediately carried out retaliatory air strikes.
An assessment of the situation indicated that more than 300 Israeli citizens died in the Hamas offensive, while around 1,600 were injured, according to Israeli media, which cite medical sources.
The number of fatalities is expected to increase in the coming hours, given the seriousness of some injuries, the same sources indicated.
On the Palestinian side, at least 232 people died and 1,700 were injured, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, territory controlled by Hamas since 2007.
This ministry accused Israeli forces of deliberately attacking medical personnel and hospitals, killing three health professionals, injuring three others and destroying five ambulances.
Palestinian sources said that at least five buildings were destroyed in Gaza by Israeli bombings and that hospitals are in a state of emergency due to the situation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that the army will use “all its power” to “destroy the capabilities” of the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas and called on the population to leave the Gaza Strip.
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