A delegation from the Turkish parliament's Human Rights Inquiry Commission will pay a visit to Lebanon to assess human rights violations there, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported on Friday.

The delegation will assess how serious human rights violations in Lebanon are and decide on what Turkey could do in this regard, Anatolia quoted some officials as reporting.

"Israel committed crimes against humanity and violated human rights by massacres it carried out in Palestine and Lebanon," the commission said in a statement, urging the UN Security Council and the European Union to press for a ceasefire in the Middle East.

The statement also called on Lebanese Hezbollah guerillas and other organizations to release kidnapped Israeli soldiers to defuse the escalating tension.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora said Thursday that more than 900 people had been killed and over 3,000 wounded since Israel launched an offensive against Hezbollah in retaliation for the abduction of two Israeli soldiers by the Shiite group on July 12.

Israel has also launched an offensive on the Gaza Strip to secure an abducted soldier and stop Palestinian rocket fire.

Source: Xinhua