CAIRO
Arab League Chief Nabil al-Arabi has called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to discuss ways of ending a new Israeli military offensive against the besieged Gaza Strip, according to a Tuesday Arab League statement.
In a press statement issued by his office in Cairo, al-Arabi said he was "gravely concerned about Israel's dangerous military escalation in Gaza."
He also warned of deteriorating humanitarian conditions among Gaza residents amid continuing crimes and violations by Israel, "in a clear breach of international law."
Earlier Tuesday, Israel announced the launch of a military offensive, dubbed "Operation Protective Edge," with the stated aim of ending rocket fire from Gaza.
The Israeli army said Tuesday that its air and naval forces had struck 50 sites across the Gaza Strip overnight while its ground troops were being mobilized on the border with the Palestinian enclave for a possible ground incursion.
At least 11 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the Israeli offensive was officially announced, according to reports from official medical sources in Gaza.
Gaza-based resistance factions, for their part, continued to fire rockets at Israel on Tuesday in response to ongoing Israeli airstrikes.
The escalations come amid heightened tension over the killing of three teenage Jewish settlers in the West Bank last month and the subsequent murder of a 16-year-old Palestinian by Jewish settlers.
By Gomaa Moselhi
www.aa.com.tr/en
