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UN envoy to Mideast concerned Gaza situation will deteriorate

Nickolay Mladenov, UN envoy to the Mideast, said he was concerned that the latest escalation of hostilities in Gaza could bring “devastating consequences.”  

By: AP

The United Nations’ Mideast envoy is expressing his concern about the latest escalation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas.

Nickolay Mladenov, the UN special envoy who is involved in Egyptian efforts to broker a truce, said in a statement on Thursday that he’s “deeply alarmed” by “multiple rockets fired toward communities in southern Israel” the day before.

Mladenov’s statement came amid the latest surge in violence this week, in which Hamas fired over 150 rockets at Israel. In turn, Israel carried out over 140 airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.

Mladenov said that for months he has warned that the “humanitarian, security and political crisis in Gaza risks a devastating conflict that nobody wants.”

He added that “if the current escalation however is not contained immediately, the situation can rapidly deteriorate with devastating consequences for all people.”