PA calls for UN meeting on Gaza

Acting Palestinian Authority (PA) Chief Mahmoud Abbas

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194877.html

Acting Palestinian Authority (PA) Chief Mahmoud Abbas has called for an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to discuss the ongoing Israeli air attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Abbas has instructed the Palestinian representative to the UN, Riyad Mansour, to call for the meeting, Ma'an News Agency reported on Saturday.

The developments come as continuous Israeli air raids targeting the impoverished Gaza Strip in the past three days have killed at least 16 Palestinians and injured a further 45 others so far.

Earlier, Abbas also called on the Arab League (AL) to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza.

The AL Deputy Secretary General Ahmad Bin Helli announced on Saturday that the 22-member organization would hold an urgent meeting on the level of the permanent delegates on Sunday to discuss the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.

Israel began launching its airstrikes on the Gaza Strip late Thursday.

Moreover, Israel has claimed it launched the attacks in response to assaults that targeted two buses and a military vehicle near the Red Sea resort of Eilat in southern Israel, which left eight Israelis dead.

Israeli Minister for Military Affairs Ehud Barak quickly accused resistance groups in Gaza for the attacks and vowed a “full response.”

Hamas has said that it had nothing to do with the assault and warned against any act of aggression against the Gaza Strip.

Israel has also imposed a blockade on Gaza since the Hamas government took control of the territory in 2007.

The blockade has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the impoverished territory.

Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including the freedom of movement and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education.