Arab League urges halt to Israeli escalation in Gaza

By Viola Fahmi

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Arab League on Tuesday decried the ongoing Israeli attacks in the blockaded Gaza Strip and called for an immediate halt to the Israeli military escalation in the area.

“We call on the international community to intervene immediately to stop this brutal Israeli aggression,” Said Abu Ali, Assistant Secretary-General of the Cairo-based league, said in a statement.

He held Israel responsible for the consequences of the current military escalation in the Palestinian territory.

"The international community should assume its responsibility toward providing international protection for the Palestinian people and seeking to achieve the just peace aspired for by the peoples of the region,” he said.

Earlier Tuesday, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) called for an immediate halt to ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip.

At least six Palestinians were martyred in renewed Israeli attacks in Gaza since Monday. The Israeli army says the attacks came in response to rocket fire from the Palestinian territory.

On Sunday, seven Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were killed in an undercover Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip.

Since March, more than 200 Palestinians have been martyred and thousands more injured by Israeli army fire during protests demanding the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their ancestral home in what is now Israel.