Mohamed Salah Calls For End Of Violence In Israel-Hamas Conflict

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah is the latest football star to speak out about the ongoing conflict between Hamas militants and Israel. The Egyptian star took to his social media accounts to share a video where he calls on "world leaders to come together to prevent further slaughter of innocent souls".

The simple video shows a very tight close-up of Salah, as he reads his statement to the camera. He did not leave any caption as every word of his message was clearly stated in the video.

Speaking about the escalating conflict that has now recorded a death toll of over 5,000 casualties on both sides combined, Salah pointed out that "there has been too much violence, heartbreak and brutality".

He also called for humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza immediately in light of the dire situation that is currently being faced by the civilians that have been forced to evacuate their homes.

"The people of Gaza need food, water and medical supplies urgently," Salah said in the video. It may be remembered that Israel put the entire Gaza strip under siege following a horrific attack on Israel soil by Hamas militants on Saturday, October 7.

Israel was bombarded with 2,000-5,000 rockets launched from Gaza in the early hours of that morning, while a coordinated attack on the ground was also launched by Hamas operatives. More than 1,400 people, who were mostly Israeli civilians, were brutally murdered at a music festival that was being held near the border with Gaza. Other victims, including the elderly, women and children, were residents living in towns close to the border which were raided by members of Hamas.

In response, Israel declared war against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and has since been working hard to secure Israeli towns that were infiltrated. Israel secured the borders and have been bombarding Gaza with air strikes for over a week. Water and electricity inside the strip has been cut off, and civilians have been told to evacuate.

Arab nations refuse to absorb refugees affected by the war sparked by Hamas

Israel has not allowed any humanitarian aid to come into Gaza, citing concerns about the resources ending up in the hands of militants instead of civilians. Instead, they have been urging for the immediate evacuation of all civilians.

Unfortunately, surrounding countries like Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Turkey and other nearby Arab nations have refused to take in civilians who are attempting to flee from the conflict. As such, almost two million people are being forced to remain inside Gaza without food, electricity, water and medical supplies. All this, while Israeli air strikes continue to level known Hamas hideouts within Gaza.

Over 3,000 people have now reportedly been killed inside Gaza alone, with the total death toll on both sides estimated to be around 5,000.

Salah takes the side of humanity

Incidentally, regardless of who started the war, Salah chose to focus only on the lives of the innocent. "All lives are sacred and must be protected. The massacres need to stop. Families are being torn apart. I am calling on the world leaders to come together to prevent further slaughter of innocent souls," he said.

The two-time African Footballer of the Year is from Egypt, which is a known supporter of Palestine, yet his statement remained neutral in this conflict, adding: "Humanity must prevail."

Tensions escalate over hospital blast

On Tuesday night, Al-Ahli hospital inside Gaza City was hit by a blast that reportedly killed hundreds of people. The death toll has not been verified, and even more interestingly, the cause of the explosion is being disputed, with both sides pointing fingers at each other.

Immediately after the explosion, Palestinians claimed that an Israeli air strike targeted the hospital, accusing the Israeli military of violating the terms of the Geneva convention. The accusations caused massive outrage and protests to erupt across Arab communities around the world.

However, the Israel Defense Forces released screencaps from footage captured live by Al Jazeera showing a rocket coming from inside the Gaza strip and appearing to misfire and drop into the hospital. The IDF also shared intercepted communication between two members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, who appear to be telling each other that the rocket was one of theirs and that it was fired from a cemetery behind the hospital. This, of course, is also being denied by the militant group.