Tunisia is working with Turkey, Qatar and France to halt Israel's ongoing onslaught on the embattled Gaza Strip, Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of Tunisia's Islamist Ennahda movement, has said.
"Tunisia is mediating – along with Turkey, Qatar and France – in an effort to halt Israel's aggression on the Gaza Strip at a time when the Egyptian regime is not fit to mediate," Ghannouchi said at a Tuesday press conference.
Since Monday of last week, almost 200 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1400 injured in unrelenting Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.
Israel claims the offensive is meant to staunch rocket fire at Israeli cities from the Gaza Strip.
On Tuesday, Egypt proposed a ceasefire between Gaza-based resistance factions and Israel to come into effect at 6am GMT Tuesday.
While Israel's security cabinet accepted the proposal, deputy Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouq said his group was still mulling the initiative after having initially rejected it.
Cairo's initiative calls on Israel to cease all hostilities in the Gaza Strip, halt all ground operations and refrain from targeting civilians, according to an Egyptian Foreign Ministry statement.
It also calls on Gaza-based resistance factions to cease hostilities against Israel, halt rocket fire and cross-border attacks and stop targeting civilians.
The overture further calls for reopening Gaza's closed border crossings and facilitating the movement of persons and goods in and out of the embattled coastal strip.
Ghannouchi reiterated Ennahda's support for the liberation of occupied Palestine.
"We support Palestinian unity, which is fundamental to the liberation of Palestine," he said.
By Yousry Wannas
englishnews@aa.com.tr
