Palestinian FM urges UN, AL to help end Israeli offensive

Visiting Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar on Tuesday urged UN chief Kofi Annan and Arab League (AL) chief Amr Moussa to take steps to end Israeli offensives against the Palestinians.

Al-Zahar, who is here for an urgent AL meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, sent two urgent messages to Moussa and Annan to explain the serious situation in northern Gaza Strip where more than 60 Palestinians had been killed in the Israeli offensives, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported.

Al-Zahar asked Annan to exert utmost efforts to get Israel to implement international resolutions and withdraw from the Palestinian lands.

In his message to Moussa, al-Zahar urged Moussa to work to lift siege imposed on the Palestinians and to guarantee that all sides would continue backing the Palestinians and their institutions.

On Monday, Moussa called for launching a real peace process in the Middle East, adding that there was no active peace process in the region.

At a press conference after talks with al-Zahar at the AL Headquarters in Cairo on Monday, Moussa called for revival of Arab solidarity on the Palestinian issue, urging the UN Security Council to take action to improve the deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army started a large-scale military operation dubbed "Autumn Clouds" in the Gaza Strip as of Nov. 1 and sent military forces equipped with heavy weapons to Beit Hanoun and other towns in northern Gaza city.

Nine Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, hours after the Israeli army announced an end to the operation and pulled out of Beit Hanoun.

Israel said that the offensive was to stop Palestinian rocket attacks.

Source: Xinhua