The European Union Friday, imposed sanctions on two South Sudanese military leaders for breaking ceasefire agreement, reports the Reuters.

The EU announced travel bans on South Sudanese rebel leader Peter Gadet, and Military commander of the government army, Santino Deng. 

The sanctions were placed due to claims that Gadet had violated the January ceasefire whilst citing human rights abuses during an attack by his militia group in April.

Kurdish leaders vowed to boycott the Iraq cabinet on Thursday, demanding an apology from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, for his remarks accusing Kurdistan of harbouring ISIS fighters.

Mr Maliki made those comments whilst visiting the Kurdistan's capital Irbil on Wednesday.

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki moon, Thursday, warned the United Nations Security Council of a serious escalation of casualties in the Israel and Gaza could only be avoided if parties worked towards a two state solution.

“My paramount concern is the safety and well-being of all civilians, no matter where they are. It pains me – and it should pain us all – to be reliving circumstances that are all too reminiscent of the two most recent wars in Gaza,” said Ban Ki-moon.

Over 38 people, including at least 8 children have now been killed in the Gaza strip after continuing air and sea attacks by the Israeli Defence Force.

Officials in Gaza said that six children were killed in an attack targeting Hamas activist Odeh Ahmad Mohammad Kaware, with several of his children said to have died in the assault, reported The Guardian.

The Israeli military has conducted over 440 air and naval strikes since Monday.

"Four Palestinians were killed in air strikes, including two brothers who are 12 and 13 years old in Shejaiya, while a four-year-old boy and a woman were killed in a raid on Zeitun," emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told Agence France-Presse.

The Israeli army said that the killing of 8 Palestinian civilians on Tuesday was a mistake, whilst adding that civilians protecting Hamas buildings would not be spared, reports an Israeli daily, Harretz.

An Israeli Defence Force investigation, Wednesday, found that despite prior warnings, a senior Hamas operatives family members returned to the targeted house too soon.

“There was nothing to be done, the munition was in the air and could not be diverted,” said a senior air force officer.

China called on Monday for an inclusive government in Iraq as a prompt political solution to ongoing violence.

Expressing concern about the violence and the rise of ISIS, China's Middle East envoy, Wu Sike, told Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki that "the stability of Iraq is key to the peace and stability of the entire Middle East, as well as that of the world", Reuters reported.

Three Congolese witnesses of Congolese war crimes for the International Criminal Court (ICC), were deported, Sunday, despite concerns about their safety in Congo, reports NL Times.

The trio, who were held in a Congolese prison before being called to The Hague in 2011 as witnesses of war crimes, had their asylum claims rejected by Dutch authorities.

Amnesty International, strongly opposed the Dutch decision, and warned that the three witnesses would face severe rights violations upon arrival in Congo.

The Ukrainian authorities last weekend seized control over a number of eastern towns after ignoring calls to extend a ceasefire, reports The Guardian.

Declaring a turning point in the conflict against separatists, Ukrainian President, Petro Poroshenko, said,

“It’s not a total victory. But the purging of Slavyansk of these bands, made up of people armed to the teeth, has incredible symbolic importance.”