Nairobi — Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Leader Raila Odinga has condemned the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine warning leaders against taking sides on the matter.
Odinga who spoke in Kajiado County yesterday emphasized that for peace to be restored between the two warring parties, the Palestinians must be granted their right.
"For the Israel and Palestine issue, the truth must be known for peace to be restored. Peace will not be restored until the Palestine are granted their rights," he stated.
The Former Prime Minister opined that instead of international leaders taking sides on the matter they should fight to have Palestine access their right to exist as a free and independent nation.
"People are taking sides including Presidents condemning one side when bombs are being dropped, schools, hospitals, and patients are being bombed in their sick beds. These things must be condemned by civilized humanity. That's when we can know peace," he said.
At least 18 Palestinian Christians were killed by an Israeli airstrike that took place near a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City on Thursday evening, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
The ministry said last night, dozens of Christian casualties arrived in al-Shifaa hospital following an attack targeting a place near the Church of Saint Porphyrius, which led to the falling over of a church wall and injured the Christians taking shelter inside.
In a press statement sent to Xinhua, the Hamas-run Interior Ministry said that "more than 400 people, Christians and Muslims, were taking shelter at the church in a bid to avoid the Israeli airstrikes."
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Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Friday that its fighter jets on Thursday night targeted the command and control center belonging to Hamas militants, from where rockets and mortars toward Israel were launched.
The IDF confirmed that its strike damaged a wall of a nearby church, adding that "we are aware of reports of casualties, and the incident is under review."
It unequivocally stated that "the church was not the target of the strike," noting that "Hamas intentionally embeds its assets in civilian areas."
The IDF also called on the residents in northern Gaza to evacuate according to its instructions to minimize harm to civilians.
On Oct. 7, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) launched a surprise attack on Israeli military targets and towns adjacent to the Gaza Strip, prompting extensive Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.
The ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, as it entered the 14th day, has killed more than 5,000 people on both sides.
