Mladenov in Cairo: UN working to deescalate Israeli-Gaza violence
"The indiscriminate launching of rockets and mortars against population centers is absolutely unacceptable and must stop immediately."
By TOVAH LAZAROFF Nickolay Mladenov: We are very much at the early stages of this [reconciliation] process, and there are too many things that can go wrong, and most of them probably will(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
The escalation of Israeli-Gaza violence is dangerous and the United Nations is working with the Egyptians to deescalate the situation, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov said in a statement released while he was in Cairo on Wednesday.An Israeli official confirmed that negotiations are underway to obtain a ceasefire and that the recent clash with Palestinian Islamic Jihad could be over “tonight,” Ynet reported on Wednesday.Ziyad Rushdi al-Nakhalah, Secretary-General of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is expected to land in Cairo to meet with the Egyptian Intelligence to discuss the terms of a ceasefire with Israel.“I am very concerned about the ongoing and serious escalation between Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Israel, following the targeted killing of one of the group’s leaders inside Gaza yesterday," Mladenov said. "The indiscriminate launching of rockets and mortars against population centers is absolutely unacceptable and must stop immediately. There can be no justification for any attacks against civilians," Mladenov said. "The continuing escalation is very dangerous. It is yet another attempt to undermine the efforts to improve the dire socioeconomic conditions in Gaza and prevent another devastating conflict. The UN is working to urgently deescalate the situation," he said.The violence began on Sunday Israel assassinated Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Bahaa Abu al-Ata, who had masterminded many attacks against Israel. The Islamic Jihad in return has launched hundreds of rockets against southern Israel. The IDF has responded with targeted strikes, that have killed 29 Palestinians.Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, David Schenker met with Mladenov prior to the UN envoy's departure for Cairo."The Islamic Jihad has nothing to lose, so it hard to negotiate or have a mediation. They just lost their senior official, very hard to stomach. There are a lot of missiles that have fallen on Israel in the last day and a half. I hope they can come to come to a resolution soon on some type of deescalation. I think the government of Israel is making efforts to not escalate this," he said.Schenker said Hamas's absence from the fighting was positive. "It suggests that Hamas does not want to fight with Israel right now, nor does Israel want to fight with Hamas right now. That is positive," he said.
![Nickolay Mladenov: We are very much at the early stages of this [reconciliation] process, and there are too many things that can go wrong, and most of them probably will (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)](https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/q_auto/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/398909 "Nickolay Mladenov: We are very much at the early stages of this [reconciliation] process, and there are too many things that can go wrong, and most of them probably will")