EU calls for end to violence in Gaza

The European Union has asked for an immediate end to the violence in the Tel Aviv-besieged Gaza Strip.

The bloc’s 27 ministers said in a statement after a meeting in Brussels on Monday, “The European Union…calls for an urgent” end to the violence. As many as 110 Palestinians have been killed and more than 900 others injured in intensified Israeli attacks against the coastal sliver since November 14.

“EU supports the efforts of Egypt and other actors to mediate for a rapid ceasefire,” the statement also said.

The Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil visited the Gaza Strip on Friday where he promised to intensify Egypt’s efforts to “stop this aggression and achieve a lasting truce.”

“What I saw today in Gaza, at the hospital, with the martyrs, cannot be met with silence. This tragedy should not be met with silence and the whole world should take responsibility to stop the aggression,” he said.

Israel frequently carries out airstrikes and other attacks on the Gaza Strip, saying the acts of aggression are being conducted for defensive purposes. However, in violation of international law, disproportionate force is always used and civilians are often killed or injured.

The attacks rage on while Israel keeps up its crippling blockade on Gaza, which it imposed on the enclave in 2007.