Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced on Sunday that an urgent meeting would be held in Tel Aviv later on Sunday to discuss a mechanism to solve the crisis of getting food supplies into Gaza Strip.

Abbas told a news conference held at Rafah crossing on the borders between the Gaza Strip and Egypt that the meeting would be attended by Palestinian, American, European, Israeli and Egyptian representatives.

"In today's meeting, a permanent solution to all outstanding questions related to the protocols of operating crossings and terminals, also export and import will be discussed," said Abbas.

He, meanwhile, noted that the EU monitors at the crossing "are our guests" who "came here to help us and we would never allow anyone to obstruct their mission."

For the Palestinian people's interests, "we have to protect this crossing and our guests," he added.

Abbas affirmed that "the issue of goods which are being transferred into-out the Gaza Strip would be discussed in Today's meeting to facilitate for our people to get the basic foodstuff."

Citing security concerns, Israel has closed the crossing for most of the past two months.

The closure was supposed to end on Thursday after Israeli holiday of Purim, but it has been extended following the Israeli raid of a Jericho prison in the West Bank last Tuesday.

Palestinians sources said earlier on Sunday that the Gaza Strip is suffering serious shortages in basic food items, especially flour, the basic food for the Palestinians, as Israel keeps the crossing closed.

Serious food shortages in the Strip have forced dozens of bakeries to close down their doors and restaurants stopped offering meals as dozens of Palestinians stood in long lines in front of few bakeries where there are some bread left, the sources said.

On Saturday, Palestinian Minister of Economy Mazen Sonokrot warned of a humanitarian disaster in the Strip because the wheat and flour have run out in the past few days.

Source: Xinhua