RAMALLAH
Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday said Israel was waging a war on the entire Palestinian people and not just Hamas, calling for urgent Arab and international action to stop the "bloodbath."
"This isn't a war against Hamas or any other Palestinian faction," Abbas said in televised remarks. "This is a war against the entire Palestinian people."
Seven Palestinians, including three children, were killed in the Gaza Strip earlier Wednesday by fresh Israeli airstrikes, bringing the total number of Gazans killed since Monday to 35.
At least 300 Gazans have also been injured by Israeli airstrikes over the same period.
On Tuesday, Israel launched a military offensive – dubbed "Operation Protective Edge" – with the stated aim of staunching rocket fire emanating from Gaza.
Israel, meanwhile, has continued to pound the coastal enclave with airstrikes, while ground troops remain massed on the strip's borders in advance of a possible ground assault.
Abbas noted that ongoing Israeli strikes were killing entire Palestinian families.
"We have two families each losing seven members in strikes on their homes," he fumed.
"We have victims as young as six and as old as 70. Were these people firing rockets from inside their homes?" Abbas asked.
He insisted that Israel was not defending itself against rocket fire, but was rather defending its longstanding occupation of Palestinian territory and its policy of unabated settlement building.
Appeals
The Palestinian leader said he was in contact with all parties concerned, especially Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, who has said Egypt was ready to help mediate an end to the ongoing aggression against Gaza.
Abbas said he had urged al-Sisi to ask the Israelis to abide by a 2012 ceasefire agreement brokered by Egypt.
He also called Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi and Jordan, the latter of which currently holds the U.N. Security Council's rotating presidency, to convene an emergency meeting of the international body.
Abbas said he had also raised the issue with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
He added that he had received a phone call from Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki with whom he had discussed the possibility of holding an emergency Arab summit.
Abbas went on to assert that the prospects for peace with Israel had become negligible in light of the current circumstances.
"Nevertheless, we will continue to negotiate," the Palestinian leader added.
Direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks ground to a halt earlier this year after Israel refused to release a group of Palestinian prisoners despite earlier promises to do so.
Israel also stepped up punitive measures against the Palestinians after Abbas' PA sought membership in several international organizations and charters.
Israel also opposes a recent reconciliation deal between Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas, telling Abbas to choose between reconciliation with Hamas and peace with the self-proclaimed Jewish state.
www.aa.com.tr/en
