Two Israeli women were killed in Ashkelon rocket barrage. 400 rockets have struck southern Israel since Monday. 

“Nothing justifies rockets being fired on the civilian Israeli population,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas tweeted, adding it “certainly does not lead to the resolution of the conflict” but is in fact “a senseless new escalation of violence.”

Two Israeli women were killed in Ashkelon on Tuesday as barrages of rockets struck the southern city and the IDF continued to target Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist sites throughout the Gaza Strip.

One woman killed was in her 60s and the other in her 80s.

The Israelis were killed when rockets slammed into their homes. Minutes later, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that it had killed two top Islamic Jihad commanders responsible for rocket fire in Gaza

The White House has expressed “serious concerns” about the clashes in eastern Jerusalem, with White House press secretary Jen Psaki telling reporters during a press briefing, “We are continuing to closely monitor the violence in Israel. We have serious concerns about the situation, including violent confrontations that we’ve seen over the last few days.”

Before a meeting with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on “all sides” to “de-escalate, reduce tension and take practical steps to calm things down.”

‘’We are  very deeply concerned about the rocket attacks that we are seeing now that need to stop and need to stop immediately, and also, of course, concerns about the violence, provocative actions in and around the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount,’’ he said.

He added: ‘’I appreciate some of the steps we’ve seen in the last – of the last 24 hours, particularly with regard to rerouting the (Jerusalem Day) parade and putting off the decision on the evictions, but it’s imperative that all sides take steps to de-escalate and calm the situation. And again, I’m deeply concerned about the rocket attacks. And even as all sides take steps to de-escalate, Israel, of course, has a right to defend its people and its territory from these attacks.’’

In a tweet, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the rocket attacks “must stop”. He called for “an end to targeting of civilian populations”.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also called for calm ad urged ‘’all sides’’ to “avoid further civilian casualties,’’ after Israel launched airstrikes on Gaza in response to the barrage of mre than 200 rockets fired by the Islamist movement Hamas.

“Nothing justifies rockets being fired on the civilian Israeli population,” Maas tweeted, adding it “certainly does not lead to the resolution of the conflict” but is in fact “a senseless new escalation of violence.”

in a statement issue on Tuesday, EU spokesperson for foreign affairs Peter Stano said the firing of rockets from Gaza against civilian populations in Israel ”is totally unacceptable and feeds escalatory dynamics.”

”The significant upsurge in violence in the occupied West Bank, including in East Jerusalem as well as in and around Gaza needs to stop immediately,” he said. .

”All leaders have a responsibility to act against extremists. The status quo of the holy sites must be fully respected.  We reiterate our call on all sides to engage in de-escalatory efforts. Further civilian casualties must be prevented as a priority,” he added.