Palestinian blood
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says Israel"s extreme measures in Gaza show Israeli intent to completely eradicate the Palestinian people.
Abbas said on Saturday that Gazans are withstanding the worst of the Israeli military"s ongoing ground offensive against the Hamas. "Israel is keeping up this aggression in order to wipe out our people over there," he said as Israel"s onslaught on Gaza saw a considerable increase earlier in the day.
Israeli ground forces --backed by tanks and artillery-- made their deepest push into Gaza since the beginning of the offensive on the 1.5 million people in the coastal strip on Dec. 27.
Tel Aviv"s military incursion into Gaza has resulted in high Palestinian casualties. According to the latest estimates, 940 people have been killed so far with another 4,400 wounded.
"What is essential is to stop the aggression. It must stop, Israel must withdraw from Palestinian territory, lift the blockade and reopen the border crossings so that our people"s suffering can end," Abbas added, who drew sharp criticism from most Arab countries over his stance on Gaza.
Kuwaiti lawmakers urged the government on Tuesday to prevent the Palestinian President from attending an Arab economic summit, which takes place in the Persian Gulf littoral state next week.
"We call on the government to declare that Abbas is not welcome in Kuwait," said a statement released by the Kuwaiti Parliament on Tuesday.
The UN Security Council passed resolution 1860 calling for an "immediate" and "durable" halt to the Israeli offensive into Gaza. Tel Aviv, however, has labeled the UN decision as "not practical" and has affirmed that it does not need to act upon international requests.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, pointing to the mass killing of Gazan civilians, has demanded that echelons in Tel Aviv be tried for war crimes.
Her call was echoed by Geneva-based Iranian diplomat Ali-Reza Moayyeri-- who said that Israel should be held accountable for the "massive violation of humanitarian law" that it has so far committed in the Gaza Strip.
According to Moayyeri, deliberate attacks on civilians that lack strict military necessity "not only account for war crimes, but also constitute blatant crimes against humanity".
"Israel"s political and military leaders bear personal liability for their offenses against thousands of defenseless Gazans," said Moayyeri.
Switzerland is another country that wants an international investigation into likely Israeli violations of humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip.
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Source: www.presstv.ir
