RAMALLAH
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said on Sunday that his government's current priority is to bring about a cessation of what he described as "Israeli aggressions" on the Gaza Strip.
He added that the Palestinian government had decided to send the Health Minister on top of a delegation to Gaza to know the needs of the embattled strip and supply these needs.
"The government is in continual session, contacting governments and international institutions to stop the bloodshed and the Israeli aggression," Hamdallah told Anadolu Agency.
At least 166 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since late Monday.
Israel has launched a military offensive – dubbed "Operation Protective Edge" – against the Gaza Strip with the stated aim of ending rocket fire from the enclave.
Gaza-based resistance factions, for their part, have continued to fire hundreds of rockets into Israel, some of which have reached Tel Aviv, in response to the ongoing offensive.
No Israeli fatalities have been reported thus far.
Hamdallah described the Israeli operation on Gaza as an "aggression on all human values".
He called on international institutions and rights groups to intervene to stop Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip and its population of 1.8 million.
"We keep carrying out our duties toward Gaza," Hamdallah said.
He said his government sends medical supplies and food stuffs to the strip and also helps victims from the Israeli strikes get medical treatment at Egyptian hospitals.
"We also move to bring about an end to bloodshed," he added.
He said Israeli authorities had denied him and some of his government ministers entry into the Gaza Strip. He added that the Palestinian government is ready to hold a meeting in Gaza as soon as possible.
International Institutions
The Palestinian Prime Minister said his government has a full range of options in dealing with the current crisis and bringing Israel to account.
"We are a people with a just cause," Hamdallah said. "We live under killing and destruction," he added.
Hamdallah said this is about time the Palestinians managed to create their own state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and get rid of the Israeli occupation of their territories, which have been captured since 1967.
He said the Palestinian leadership would head to the United Nations if Israel maintains its attacks on Gaza.
The Palestinian Prime Minister noted that Israel has been trying to sabotage his national unity government since the formation of this government weeks ago.
The Palestinians formed the government in the light of an agreement hammered out in April between the two main factions Hamas, which used to rule the Gaza Strip, and Fatah, which rules the occupied West Bank.
The agreement brought to an end animosities that marred relations between the two movements since 2006.
Hamdallah said Israel had prevented government ministers from Gaza from reaching the occupied West Bank.
He called on the Turkish government to make more efforts to stop the Israeli onslaught on Gaza.
"We hold Turkey's role in backing the Palestinian cause both at the political and economic levels in high esteem," Hamdallah said.
By Qais Abu Samra
www.aa.com.tr/en
