The chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat on Monday in strong terms condemned the continued air strikes by Israel on Gaza.
Mahamat in a statement on Tuesday asserted that the targeting of civilians as well as the illegal occupation by Israeli security forces of the occupied Palestinian territories are a stark violation of international law and complicate the search for a just and lasting solution.
According to the union, the AU Commission chairperson has reaffirmed the AU’s ‘unwavering support’ for the Palestinian people’s ‘legitimate quest for an independent and sovereign State with East Jerusalem as its capital’.
The chairperson also said there is an urgent need of renewed and genuine international efforts to find a just and lasting solution based on the existence of two states within the framework of relevant existing African Union and United Nations commitments.
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The recent flare-up of deadly violence between the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group and Israel has killed at least 31 Palestinians, including six children and four women, and injured 275, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza.
Recall that a senior militant from Islamic Jihad was among over 15 casualties killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip last Friday, prompting the militant group to warn Israel has ‘started a war’.
Africa Daily News, New York gathered that a child was among those killed in the strikes, the enclave’s health ministry said, while Israel’s military estimated 15 combatants were killed.
The Israeli army said the strikes were part of an operation ‘against targets in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’ group.
Islamic Jihad said Israel had ‘started a war against our people’.
‘We collectively must defend ourselves and our people. We will not allow the enemy’s policy of undermining the resistance and our national perseverance,’ the group said in a statement.
Flames poured out of a building in Gaza City following an air strike, while wounded Palestinians were evacuated by medics.
Gaza’s health ministry reported ‘a five-year-old girl, targeted by the Israeli occupation’ was among those killed.