WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden expressed his "grave concern" over violence in Israel and Gaza in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Saturday while separately telling Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas that Hamas must "cease firing rockets."
Speaking on the sixth day of a paroxysm of Israeli-Palestinian violence that has left scores dead or wounded, Biden expressed his "strong support" for Israel's right to defend itself against rocket attacks by "Hamas and other activist groups," in his call with Netanyahu, while also emphasising his clear concern over the deadly flare-up and casualties on both sides.
"He condemned these indiscriminate attacks against towns and cities across Israel," the White House statement said.
But Biden also raised concerns about the safety of journalists after Israeli air strikes on Saturday flattened a building in Gaza housing The Associated Press and other international media outlets.
In a phone call with AP president and CEO Gary Pruitt, Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered "unwavering support for independent journalists and media organisations around the world," noting the "indispensability" of reporting in conflict zones, according to State Department spokesman Ned Price.
Biden, who up to now has said little publicly about the heightened violence, voiced US support for a negotiated two-state solution to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He made the same point in a separate phone call with president Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, the White House said, highlighting "strong commitment to a negotiated two-state solution as the best path to reach a just and lasting resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
The US leader, in his first call with Abbas since taking office, also "stressed the need for Hamas to cease firing rockets into Israel."
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin "reaffirmed Israel's right to defend itself," in a phone call with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Gantz, according to a readout.
Egypt reopens border crossing with Gaza
AL ARISH: Egypt on Sunday reopened the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip for traffic coming in one direction from the Palestinian enclave, as an intense exchange of fire and attacks took place between Israel and Hamas.
The facility, Gaza's only key crossing point to the outside world, was closed during the Eid holiday, which started on Thursday.
The reopening will allow the entry of stranded Palestinians and patients into Egypt, a Palestinian official said.
"So far, no people injured in the Israeli bombardment in Gaza have entered," Kamal al Khatib, a representative of the Palestinian embassy in Egypt, said.
"Nor has any ambulance from the Egyptian side entered into Gaza to transfer the injured," he added. An Egyptian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the crossing reopened Sunday at 11 am in one direction from Gaza.
"The crossing is operating at half of its usual staff capacity as today is still an official holiday marking Eid al Fitr," the official added.
However, Egyptian media reported that authorities decided to "exceptionally" reopen the crossing to allow entry of the injured Palestinians from Gaza for treatment at Egyptian hospitals.
The crossing was originally due to reopen Monday after the end of the holiday.
Pope warns of 'spiral of death' in clashes
VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis on Sunday said the loss of innocent lives in violence between Israel and Palestinians was "terrible and unacceptable", warning that the latest conflict could get even worse.
"In these days, violent armed clashes between the Gaza Strip and Israel have taken over, and risk degenerating into a spiral of death and destruction," said the pope following his Sunday Regina Caeli prayer.
"Numerous people have been injured, and many innocents have died. Among them there are also children, and this is terrible and unacceptable," the 84-year-old pontiff said.
"I ask myself: where will hatred and revenge lead? Do we really think we will build peace by destroying the other?"
Francis' comments, addressed to a crowd in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, came after the pontiff held a special mass for Myanmar on Sunday morning. During mass, he repeated calls for an end to bloodshed in the country roiled by a violent crackdown on civilians by the military junta, urging its people not to lose hope.
Francis, who often speaks about current events in his Sunday addresses from the window of the Apostolic Palace, also urged for calm in the Middle East.
"I appeal for calm and, to those who have responsibility, to stop the din of arms and to walk the paths of peace, also with the help of the international community," he said.
ICRC calls for 'maximum influence'
GENEVA: World leaders should use "maximum influence" to stop the spiralling conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, the ICRC said on Sunday ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on the violence.
"The populations in Gaza and Israel are facing the most intense cycle of hostilities in years," the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement.
"Ahead of the United Nations Security Council meeting on Sunday, the ICRC calls on the concerned leaders to exert maximum influence to stop the hostilities between Gaza and Israel," it said.
"The intensity of the conflict is something we have not seen before, with non-stop airstrikes in densely populated Gaza and rockets reaching big cities in Israel. As a result, children are dying on both sides," said Robert Mardini, ICRC director general.
"For people in Gaza, access to hospitals and other vital infrastructure has become very complicated because of the incessant airstrikes and major damage to roads and buildings."
The heaviest fighting since 2014, sparked by unrest in Jerusalem, erupted last Monday and has since killed 181 people in the crowded coastal enclave of Gaza and 10 people in Israel, according to authorities on either side.
Germany urges end to violence
BERLIN: German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Sunday it is "imperative" for Israelis and Palestinians to stop fighting and resume talks ahead of an emergency meeting this week with his EU counterparts.
The "highly explosive" situation in the region could lead to "unforeseeable consequences", Maas warned in a tweet, adding: "It is imperative that we prevent this from happening."
"What is needed now is: 1. an end to the rocket attacks, 2. an end to the violence and 3. a return to talks between Israelis & Palestinians and on a two-state solution," he said.
"In view of the ongoing escalation between Israel and Palestine and the unacceptable number of civilian casualties, I am convening an extraordinary VTC of the EU Foreign Ministers on Tuesday," Josep Borrell wrote on Twitter Sunday.
"We will coordinate and discuss how the EU can best contribute to end the current violence."
"The EU's priority and message in this context remains clear: violence must end now," the bloc's foreign service said in a statement.
The EU's 27 nations often struggle to find a common position over the conflict with some members including Germany, Austria and Slovenia firmly supporting Israel's right to defend itself and others urging it show greater restraint.
Canada calls for protecting journalists
MONTREAL: Canada on Saturday stressed "the fundamental importance of protecting journalists" following an Israeli attack on a building housing international media in Gaza, and called for "immediate steps" to end the violence.
Foreign Minister Marc Garneau said Canada was following the situation in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza "with grave concern" and urged "all parties to take immediate steps to end the violence, deescalate tensions, protect all civilians, refugees, journalists and media workers."
He reiterated "the fundamental importance of protecting journalists," stressing they "must be free to do their work."
"Their safety and security must always be ensured," he said on Twitter.
In Gaza, an Israeli air strike on Saturday flattened the 13-floor building housing Qatar-based Al Jazeera and The Associated Press news agency following a warning from the Israeli army to evacuate the tower. - AFP/Reuters/dpa
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