– Can count on a sharp escalation of the situation – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries

Tor Wennesland is the UN envoy to the Middle East. – It is one of the most serious and most surprising escalations we have had in this area since the Yom Kippur War. What is happening both around Gaza and in the West Bank is very extensive. I think you have to be quite naive not to see that this escalation has a regional component. I believe that such an action as we are seeing now would never have been carried out based only on the initiative of Gaza and the West Bank. says UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland. UN Condemns Escalation Wennesland says he believes very few, if any, predicted this type of action that happened early Sunday morning. – What will happen over the next few days, many hostages have been taken, and many civilians have been killed, so you can count on a sharp escalation of the conflict in the next few hours and days. He further says that it is too early to speculate on how this can be scaled down, or how the ripple effects may be in the region. – The UN is following this closely and we have clearly condemned the escalation that took place from Hamas until this morning. We believe it was completely “uncalled for”, and we note that such an escalation will lead to large civilian losses, for people who have nothing to do with this at all. The UN has been in contact with the parties to the conflict. – From the morning hours today, we have been in contact with both parties and relevant actors, and keep ourselves constantly informed. We are now making every effort to both prepare the necessary UN efforts in the humanitarian area, which we expect will be needed relatively quickly, and to ensure access for humanitarian aid into the areas where the conflict prevails, says Wennesland. Unmanageable situation – The Red Cross is very concerned about the humanitarian consequences of the attacks and operations we are now seeing in Israel and the Palestinian territories, says Jørgen Haldorsen, head of International Programs in the Red Cross. The organization is in constant contact with our people on the ground in the region, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Palestine Red Crescent. – The situation is still unclear, but serious. We are ready to quickly assist with humanitarian aid, should there be a need for it, says Haldorsen



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