Arab League calls for urgent meeting of UN Security Council over IDF Gaza op
Egypt Foreign Ministry Spokesman denounces Israel's Gaza op, but kept its Rafah border crossing with the Gaza strip closed for the sixth day in a row.
By ARIEL BEN SOLOMONArab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Secretary General of the Arab League, Nabil al-Arabi, called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday over the “dangerous Israeli escalation” in Gaza, AFP reported.An official from the organization told AFP that Arabi “instructed the Arab League's UN representative to initiate urgent consultations within the Arab group calling for an emergency security meeting of the Security Council." Arabi said he was “in touch with president Abbas to follow the latest developments in the Gaza Strip." "The continued attacks on Palestinian civilians by Israel is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, the Geneva Convention and international resolutions on occupied Palestine," he added.Egypt's Foriegn Ministry Spokesman,Badr Abdel Aty, denounced Israel's raids on Gaza, butthe country nevertheless kept its Rafah border crossing with the enclaveclosed for the sixth day in a row, the Mada Masr website reported.Iran strongly condemned Israel’s intensified attacks on Gaza on Tuesday, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham saying “the savage aggressions and killing of the defenseless people” was “started on the false pretext of [the] abduction of three Israeli settlers and have continued for more than two weeks now,” Iran’s Fars News Agency reported.Afjkam praised the resistance of the people of Gaza against “these savage actions.”The Turkish Foreign Ministry released a statement on Tuesday calling for an end to Israel’s military operation in Gaza, calling it “mass punishment,” the Turkish newspaper Today’s Zaman reported.The statement also said that the attack will result in “rightful outrage” against Israel.Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad condemned “Zionist aggression” on Tuesday and voiced support for the Palestinians in their heroic steadfastness, Syria’s Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.
His comments were made in a meeting with a PLO delegation headed by Executive Committee member Ahmed Majdalani.Miqdad also criticized the UN Security Council and the Arab League for ignoring “Israeli massacres against the defenseless Palestinians.”Majdalani conveyed congratulations to the Syrian people and its leadership for the reelection victory of President Bashar Assad, adding that this demonstrates the support of the Syrian people, Sana reported.
