Mideast Envoy Working Urgently to De-Escalate Gaza

The U.N. Mideast envoy says negotiators are “working to urgently de-escalate” fighting between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Nickolay Mladenov said in a statement Wednesday during a trip to Cairo that he was “very concerned about the ongoing and serious escalation” of hostilities.

Mladenov was to meet with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi as part of efforts to broker a ceasefire.

The heaviest round of fighting in months was triggered early Tuesday by Israel’s targeted killing of a senior Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza. Over 400 rockets have since been fired from Gaza into Israel.

According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, 24 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes. At least half of that number were members of terrorist groups, the IDF said.

The U.N. diplomat condemned the Islamic terror group’s attacks as “absolutely unacceptable.”