Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya urged the international community on Friday to put pressure on Israel to stop its military offensive on the Palestinians.

Haneya told reporters as he visited the wounded people at Shiffa Hospital in Gaza City that 16 Palestinians were killed and fifty others wounded in the last 24 hours in the Gaza Strip, adding "this is obviously an awful crime."

He said the Israeli massacre would not achieve its goal of breaking the Palestinian people's resistance and extracting acceptance of its terms.

"We will never surrender to these terms, and I call on the international community, mainly our brothers in Jordan and Egypt, to halt this aggression against our people," said Haneya.

Meanwhile, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip.

Erekat said that President Mahmoud Abbas telephoned European and U.S. officials and asked them to intervene immediately to put an end to this dangerous escalation.

Source: Xinhua