Int’l community cannot act like it’s 'business as usual' in order to end Israeli occupation: Palestinian envoy

By Betul Yuruk

UNITED NATIONS (AA) - The international community cannot act like it is ''business as usual'' after the latest Israeli raids on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin and its refugee camp which killed at least 12 people, the Palestinian envoy to the UN said Wednesday.

''It's a horrific situation. It is a barbaric situation by the Israeli occupying forces,'' Riyad Mansour told reporters at UN headquarters in New York.

''They used a large number of forces and infantries and mechanized units to attack this small refugee camp.''

He urged the UN Security Council to send signals to the Palestinian people that the international community is not abandoning them.

''What we want is the international community, the Security Council...to do things, not business as usual,'' he said.

''They have to do something out of the ordinary,'' Mansour said.

The Israeli army withdrew from Jenin early Wednesday, concluding its largest military operation in the city in more than 20 years.

At least 12 Palestinians were killed, including five children, and more than 140 injured in the offensive, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The Israeli raid, which started on Monday, has also left a massive trail of destruction across the West Bank city, with dozens of homes, vehicles, shops and utility lines destroyed.

UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said the scale of violence in terms of the effect on civilians was ''alarming.''