Palestine urges UN to stop Israeli crimes against children

RAMALLAH

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki on Monday urged the UN to stop Israel's crimes against Palestinian children.

In a message to Virginia Gamba, UN’s special envoy for children and armed conflict, Maliki said that Israel's intense and violent attacks on Gaza have caused the deaths of dozens of children, and Palestinian children did not have safe places to seek shelter.

"We call Gamba to protect Palestinian children, and urge Israel to stop its attacks on Palestinian children," Maliki said

The death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip has risen to 212, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Monday.

The grim figure includes 61 children, 35 women, and 16 elderly people, the ministry said in a statement, while 1,400 people have been injured during the offensive.

The Israeli military has staged airstrikes across the Gaza Strip since May 10, leaving behind a massive trail of destruction across the seaside territory.

Ten Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into Israel.

The recent tensions that started in East Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan spread to Gaza as a result of Israeli assaults on worshippers in the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

* Writing by Ahmet Gencturk