UN officials expressed their deepest concerns over the escalating events in the occupied Palestinian territories, calling on Israel to exercise restraint and spare the region more violence and losses. Lynn Hastings, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, indicated in a press release that the latest surge has seen children and civilians killed and injured, affirming the need to end these escalations. A spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Robert Colville, said that Israel must allow and enable freedom of expression, association and assembly, and that no force should be used against those who peacefully exercise their rights, calling on Israel to respect humanitarian law, international law, and the basic principles relating to the conduct of hostilities. The spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, had also issued a press release indicating that Israel must exercise maximum restraint and control its use of force. He also said that firing rockets randomly from Gaza at the Israeli population is unacceptable. For further details, click here