JERUSALEM, March 2, 2017 (WAFA) - United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, Thursday condemned the firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel and called for maximum restraint.

“I condemn yesterday‘s firing of a rocket from Gaza towards Israel. This is the third such incident in the past 30 days after a period of almost four months of quiet. Such provocations seek only to undermine peace,” he said in a statement.

Mladenov called on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and avoid escalation.

“I call on all responsible parties to exercise maximum restraint, avoid escalation and prevent incidents that jeopardize the lives of Palestinians and Israelis," he said.

Israel regularly retaliates with heavy fire power and air strikes on different targets in the Gaza Strip after each time a rocket falls within its territory even though in most cases the rocket falls on empty area and does not cause any damage or injuries.

M.K.