17 May 2021

Kamahl Santamaria: Al Jazeera colleagues safe in Gaza

From First Up, 5:06 am on 17 May 2021

Let's start the week in the Middle East, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said air strikes would continue in Gaza for "as long as necessary" and that ''everything possible was being done to limit civilian casualties''. This comes as the conflict enters it's second week, at least 180 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian officials, and Israel has reported 10 dead. Meanwhile, a virtual meeting of the UN Security Council has begun, with international mediators hoping to broker a ceasefire. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the meeting by describing the violence as "utterly appalling" and calling for the fighting to "stop immediately". Nathan Rarere spoke with, from Doha, our correspondent from Al Jazeera, Kamahl Santamaria.