“The high commissioner has repeatedly and unequivocally condemned the indiscriminate firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel,” Pillay’s spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva.
“She is also extremely concerned by the sharp increase in aerial attacks by Israeli forces on the heavily populated Gaza Strip in the past two days,” he added.
Pillay placed equal emphasis on the need for both sides involved in the conflict to “pull back from the increasingly dangerous confrontation,” the commissioner’s spokesman said.
In a reference to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s appeal on Wednesday for Israel to ease tensions with Gaza militants, while also condemning the rocket attacks, Colville said that Pillay “joins with the secretary-general and many others to take serious steps to avoid further escalation.”
“We are urging both sides to stop,” he said, adding that civilians were being killed on both sides, including several Palestinian children, a baby and reportedly a pregnant woman.
“Everyone is watching and praying that it does not escalate any further,” Colville said.
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