June 13, 2018•Update: June 14, 2018
JERUSALEM
UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov has warned that ongoing tension along the Gaza border could escalate into a "destructive" military conflict.
"We all have a common interest to avoid another war in Gaza because another war in Gaza will be more destructive than the one in 2014 and it will have regional implications," Mladenov said in an interview with Israeli Walla news website on Wednesday.
"I do not think anyone in Israel, Palestinians, Arabs and the world is ready for another conflict in the Middle East," he said.
Tension has been running high along Gaza border amid Palestinian protests demanding an end to the decades-long Israeli occupation.
Since March, more than 127 Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured by Israeli army fire during the protests in the Gaza Strip.
The situation escalated when the United States relocated its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel in 1967 and represents the head of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
In 2014, Israel waged a devastating 51-day military onslaught on the Gaza Strip, in which more than 2,300 Palestinians were killed and tens of thousands injured.
According to Israeli figures, 68 Israeli soldiers and five Israeli civilians were killed in the conflict, while 2,522 others, including 740 soldiers were injured.
