Archive for July 13, 2014

Hamas Rocket Strikes Gaza Electric Supply, Israel not Fixing It

July 13, 2014

Hamas Rocket Strikes Gaza Electric Supply, Israel not Fixing It, Israel National News, Yosef Berger, July 13, 2014

(Quick! Call the UN!  It’s the worst human rights violation yet. — DM)

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has asked the IEC not to risk the lives of its employees in trying to restore power.

Sederot full moonFull moon over Sderot. Flash 90

Seventy thousand Gazans from Khan Younis and Deir el-Balah were in the dark Sunday night after a Hamas rocket hit the power line that supplies electricity to those places. It’s not clear when Israel Electric Company workers will be able to repair the system, but they are apparently in no rush to do so. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has asked the IEC not to risk the lives of its employees in trying to restore power to the affected sector in Gaza, an operation that could take hours.

As Operation Protective Edge enters its seventh day, many Israelis are demanding that the country take more aggressive action against Hamas in order to put a halt to the seemingly endless missile attacks from Gaza. One suggestion that has come up numerous times – including from MKs and Ministers like Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon – is cutting off electricity to Gaza,which Israel is still supplying. The Hamas missile, which hit one of the high tension wires that move power from Israel to Gaza, apparently made that a moot point, at least partially.

The Palestinian Authority currently owes the Israel Electric Company NIS 1.5 billion ($525 million) in unpaid bills for electricity. An examination of that debt by business daily Globes shows that the relative amount owed by Gaza was NIS 220 million ($62 million).

Last month, the IEC filed a petition with the High Court demanding to be allowed to shut off electricity to the Palestinian Authority until the debt was paid – or to allow the IEC to seize customs and aid payments collected on behalf of the PA to pay off its debt. That case is still pending.

Meanwhile, the IEC is still supplying electricity to Gaza, under orders from the government. The power is delivered to Gaza via 12 high-tension wires that are capable of delivering up to 120 megawatts of electricity. Experts say this is not enough for all the residents of Gaza, and in recent weeks residents have said that they have been getting electricity only 12 hours a day.

Along with the IEC’s power, Gaza also receives electricity from a 140 megawatt generator which is under the control of the PA’s Palestine Electric Company, which is run by Hamas operatives. The generator, which is currently operating, is maintained by a crew from German company Siemens. It had been damaged by IDF forces several times in the past, officials said.

Syrian projectile attack prompts IDF artillery fire at Syrian army positions

July 13, 2014

Syrian projectile attack prompts IDF artillery fire at Syrian army positions, Jerusalem PostYaakov Lappin, July 13, 2014

A projectile was fired from Syria into Israel’s Golan Heights on Sunday evening. No injuries were reported. The IDF responded with precision artillery fire at Syrian army positions.

IDF sources said they identified accurate strikes. Security officials say they believe the projectile was fired at Israel deliberately. “The IDF views the Syrian regime as responsible for what is done in its territory,” the military said.

How Diplomats, Reporters and Human Rights Activists Saved Hamas

July 13, 2014

How Diplomats, Reporters and Human Rights Activists Saved Hamas, Sultan Knish Blog, David Greenfield, July 13, 2014

As Israeli airstrikes hit Hamas targets and Hamas rockets fall on Israeli towns, some wonder how did Gaza come to run by Hamas terrorists. The answer is that the world forced Israel to let them in.

ismail-haniyeh

In the early 90s, Nissim Toledano, a border police sergeant, was kidnapped by terrorists on the way to work. After an extended search, he was found dead in a roadside ditch.

In response to that attack and numerous other atrocities committed by Hamas, including a planned massive car bombing, Israel made the decision to deport 400 Hamas terrorists. Among them were the past and present day leaders of Hamas.

You might assume that the story ends there. And you would be wrong.

The United Nations issued a unanimous resolution condemning Israel’s deportation of “civilians” and demanding that Israel immediately bring them back, or face sanctions. The United States voted for that resolution, along with three others condemning Israel. Thomas R. Pickering, the American delegate warned that the deportations of Hamas terrorists “do not contribute to current efforts for peace.”

Lebanon refused to officially accept the terrorists. The Red Cross brought them tents and blankets and the media swarmed to take photos of them “shivering from the cold” while drinking coffee outside their tents. Newsweek accused Israel of “Deporting the Hope for Peace”. The LA Times ran a tearful interview with the wife of Mohammed Taamari, a future member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, who was terribly lonely without her husband. Much as after the flotilla raid, the Israeli media condemned the clumsy mishandling of the deportations.

Finally after enough browbeating by James Baker and Warren Christopher, Rabin agreed to take the Hamas terrorists back. In a bizarre charade that would serve as a tragic foretelling of events to come, Rabin agreed to return 100 terrorists immediately, and to take the remainder back in a year.. Now the Hamas terrorists that Rabin took back control all of Gaza, and have been responsible for an untold number of murders.

The terrorists that Israel was forced to accept included current Hamas leader Ismael Haniyeh and Hamas’ religious figurehead, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

They included Mahmoud al-Zahar, a co-founder of Hamas, who last year proclaimed; “They have legitimised the killing of their people all over the world by killing our people”. They included Mohammed Taha, another co-founder of Hamas. They also included Abdel-Aziz Rantisi, another Hamas co-founder, who was responsible for numerous murders of Israelis, who would proclaim, “By Allah, we will not leave one Jew in Palestine”.

They included his son Ayman Taha, who commanded the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, which carried out numerous attacks on Israel, including the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit.

And that is how a failure to drive out those responsible for the kidnapping and murder of one Israeli sergeant led to the capture of an Israeli corporal in 2006. It is also the story of why Gaza was turned over to Hamas in the name of “peace.” It is the story of how the United Nations, the UK and two US administrations pressured Israel into accepting the leaders of Hamas in the name of peace.

It is also the story of how the media conducted a propaganda war on behalf of an Islamist terrorist organization, not just today when it publishes false stories about starvation in Gaza, but when the only people supposedly starving were adult male Hamas terrorists.

haniya-483

The world insisted that Israel take back the Hamas leadership, and Israel did. The world insisted that Israel had no business being in Gaza, and Israel withdrew from there, which allowed the very same Hamas terrorists that the world insisted Israel take back, take over. Now the world is insisting that Israel has no right to blockade those same Hamas terrorists in Gaza. People who are shocked by this development shouldn’t be since Israel wasn’t even allowed to throw the same terrorists out of the country.

One of the more cynical left wing talking points is that Israel was responsible for Hamas. Looking back to when the current Hamas leadership were sitting outside their Red Cross tents in Lebanon and the left was pounding on Israel’s door, demanding that they be let back in– it is all too clear who was and is responsible for Hamas.

The people who saved Hamas then are responsible for it today. The media and the diplomats who  were claiming that deporting Hamas would somehow “radicalize” the Palestinian Arabs ensured that the Hamas leaders would return to radicalize all of Gaza and the West Bank.

After the deportation of the Hamas terrorists, Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin delivered a speech in the Knesset in which he said;

“I have no pity in my heart, nor do I shed tears (for the Hamas terrorists). I see the media whining their hypocritical speeches – and I think instead of Nissim Toledano’s orphaned children, the widow of Shmuel Biran, and the bereaved parents of Shmuel Geresh.”

Rabbi Shmuel Biran was a schoolteacher in Kfar Darom, an Israeli village in Gaza. He was murdered by Hamas terrorists while crossing a two lane highway. The UN did not condemn the murder of Rabbi Biran. Newsweek did not write any piteous pieces about how much his widow missed him. Instead they called Kfar Darom a settlement, even though it was part of a history going back over 2000 years, and the land it was on had been bought and paid for, fair and square.

The same diplomats and reporters who wailed for the lonely Hamas terrorists in Lebanon, did not pity the family of Rabbi Biran. Instead they demanded his family and all the Jews of Kfar Darom be expelled from their homes.

gazaburns_wideweb__430x279Kfar Darom being burned by its new occupants

Eventually they got their wish. The families of Kfar Darom were dragged out of their homes. Today Kfar Darom is used by Hamas terrorists to launch rockets deeper into Israel, at other towns and villages. The murderers have inherited the land of their victims. And yet there is no peace. Never any peace.

Now the vultures keep on circling. Once they said there would be peace if only Israel let the Hamas terrorists back in. Then they said, there would be peace if only Israel ethnically cleansed Jewish communities in land claimed by the terrorists. Now if only Israel will lift the blockade and give Hamas access to unlimited weapons– perhaps then there will be peace.

After his death, it has become fashionable to selectively quote some of Rabin’s speeches. But this speech is rarely quoted. And you don’t have to work too hard to understand why.

Our struggle against murderous Islamic terror is also meant to awaken the world which is lying in slumber. We call on all nations and all people to devote their attention to the great danger inherent in Islamic fundamentalism. That is the real and serious danger which threatens the peace of the world in the forthcoming years.

Two weeks after Rabin agreed to take back the Hamas terrorists– the World Trade Center was bombed by a group led by the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, under Omar Abdel Rahman, the “Blind Sheikh” who led al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya, which like both Al Queda and Hamas, emerged out of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Rahman’s message to Muslims was very simple; “Cut the transportation of their countries, tear it apart, destroy their economy, burn their companies, eliminate their interests, sink their ships, shoot down their planes, kill them on the sea, air, or land.”

And that was exactly what they went on to do.

The World Trade Center bombing in 1993, set the stage for the more successful attacks of 2001. Just as the Hamas atrocities of  the nineties set the stage for the bigger and more horrifying attacks to come.

islamic-terrorist

Meanwhile in Afghanistan UN aid convoys were being ambushed and massacred. Tourists were being murdered in Egypt. Hamas killed two traffic cops in Tel Aviv. But no one worried. Peace just was just on the horizon. And so Israel was forced to submit to Islamic terrorism. Hamas’ path to victory was paved by two US administrations and a press corp always eager to turn terrorists into victims, but never interested in hearing from the victims of the terrorists. Islamic terrorism had won not on its own terms, but with the unified support of the United Nations standing behind it. That is how Islamic terrorism always wins. That is the template behind its victory. And Rabin’s speech which warned the West of what was to come, was ignored. Today Rabin is remembered as the man who compromised with terrorism. It is the only thing he is remembered for .But compromising with terrorism did not bring peace. Not in Somalia, where US troops were brutally murdered next year. Not in Afghanistan, where the Taliban slaughtered aid convoys. Not in Indonesia or New York or Paris or Egypt. And certainly not in Gaza. Muslim terrorists had won a battle with the backing of the US and the UN. They have won many more since then. Now they are trying to win the war.

Report: Israel demands guarantees of Gaza demilitarization

July 13, 2014

Report: Israel demands guarantees of Gaza demilitarization

International ceasefire push continues as Kerry speaks to Netanyahu and Italian and German foreign ministers expected to arrive in Israel.

Ynet reporters, News AgenciesPublished: 07.13.14, 21:01 / Israel News

via Report: Israel demands guarantees of Gaza demilitarization – Israel News, Ynetnews.

 

Even though the Security Cabinet has yet to officially discuss an initiative to offer $50 billion in economic aid to Gaza in return for the demilitarization of the Strip, Lebanese media claimed Sunday evening that Israel has already presented the offer to the international community.

The Lebanese Al Mayadeen television channel reported that the Israeli leadership wants international guarantees, like the ones provided as part of the agreement to remove chemical weapons from Syria.

Israel’s demand for American sponsorship of a possible ceasefire agreement is delaying efforts by the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey to bring an end to hostilities, the network reported.

A senior official among the armed factions in Gaza responded to the report, saying “the resistance can’t abandon its capabilities to defend Gaza and the Palestinian people.”

He insisted that “talks of a ceasefire are an Israeli deception. We don’t care about (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s terms. These are delusions that won’t come true.”

 

International ceasefire push

US Secretary of State John Kerry called Netanyahu on Sunday to renew a US offer to help mediate a truce.

Kerry “highlighted the US concern about escalating tensions on the ground,” a senior State Department official said, and told the Israeli leader that he was engaged with regional leaders “to help to stop the rocket fire so calm can be restored and civilian casualties prevented”.

US Secretary of State Kerry, British Foreign Secretary William Hague, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius met on Sunday on the sidelines of the Iranian nuclear talks in Geneva to discuss the escalating situation in Gaza.

A German Foreign Ministry spokesman said Steinmeier will travel to the Middle East on Monday to meet with Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Steinmeier called for an end to “Hamas rocket terror”, in comments to newspaper Bild am Sonntag published on Sunday, and urged a “coalition of reason” to stop the conflict escalating.

Germany mediated a prisoner swap in 2011 in which Gilad Shalit, who was held by Hamas, was freed in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinians jailed by Israel.

Italy’s foreign minister, Federica Mogherini, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, will also meet with Netanyahu and Abbas in the coming days. Mogherini will arrive in Israel on Tuesday and stay until Thursday. She will then visit Egypt, who played a key role in mediation between Israel and Hamas in the past, on Friday and Saturday.

“There needs to be an immediate ceasefire,” Mogherini said. “The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has already devastated too many generations…. The time has come for the international community to find the unity and courage to end one of the longest wars of modern history,” she said.

Mogherini had already discussed the escalating crisis in Gaza on Sunday with French Foreign Minister Fabius and German Foreign Minister Steinmeier. She was also scheduled to speak to British Foreign Secretary Hague.

Fabius said that securing a ceasefire for the Gaza Strip and preventing an escalation of the latest outbreak of hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians was top priority for France.

“In Gaza and Israel the absolute priority is a ceasefire,” Fabius told reporters ahead of a side discussion on the latest outbreak of hostilities in Gaza with US Secretary of State Kerry, British Foreign Secretary William Hague and German Foreign Minister Steinmeier.

“In this context of a dangerous escalation, France asks for a return to the 2012 ceasefire,” he added.

Hague echoed Fabius’ called to reinstate the truce struck after Operation Pillar of Defense.

 

Roi Kais, Moran Azulay, Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

 

Netanyahu: Imagine 80 Percent of Your Citizens in Bomb Shelters

July 13, 2014

Netanyahu: Imagine 80 Percent of Your Citizens in Bomb Shelters, Washington Free Beacon, July 13, 2014

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared on Fox News Sunday to detail his country’s fight against Hamas, telling Brit Hume, “I just want your viewers to imagine the United States being bombarded, not in one city or two cities, but in every city between New York and Colorado.

“Maybe 20% of the United States would be exempt from this,” he said, “80% of your citizens would have to be in bomb shelters or ready to go into bomb shelters within a minute to a minute and a half max. No country can accept that, we can’t accept it, and we’ll take the necessary actions to stop it.”

Netanyahu stressed that they are making every effort to make surgical strikes against Hamas, and regret any civilian casualties that still occur.

Netanyahu also addressed Iran’s recent declaration that they are not attempting to develop nuclear weapons, calling their statement “a joke.”

“What are they developing — building these enormous underground nuclear facilities if not for nuclear weapons?” Netanyahu asked.

“This is a sham,” he insisted. “I don’t think anybody could take this seriously.”

The prime minister also expressed the opinion that, when it comes to negotiating a deal with Iran, a bad deal would ultimately be worse than no deal.

Hundreds trapped in synagogue as Paris protest turns violent | The Times of Israel

July 13, 2014

Hundreds trapped in synagogue as Paris protest turns violentThousands gather in Paris to demonstrate against Gaza operation, hurling stones at house of worshipBy AFP and Times of Israel staff July 13, 2014, 9:58 pm

via Hundreds trapped in synagogue as Paris protest turns violent | The Times of Israel.

 

Women hold a banner as they take part in a demonstration against Israel and in support of residents in the Gaza Strip, on July 13, 2014, Paris. (photo credit: AFP/ KENZO TRIBOUILLARD)

 

PARIS — Clashes erupted in Paris on Sunday as thousands of people protested against Israel and in support of residents in the Gaza Strip, where a six-day conflict has left 166 Palestinians dead.

Several thousand demonstrators walked calmly through the streets of Paris behind a large banner that read “Total Support for the Struggle of the Palestinian People”.

But clashes erupted at the end of the march on Bastille Square, with people throwing projectiles onto a cordon of police who responded with tear gas. The unrest was continuing early Sunday evening.

Media reports said that hundreds of Jews were trapped inside a synagogue in the area and police units were sent to rescue them.

A person in the synagogue told Israel’s Channel 2 news that protesters hurled stones and bricks at the building, “like it was an intifada.”

In the northern city of Lille, meanwhile, between 2,300 and 6,000 people protested peacefully, according to differing figures provided by the police and organizers.

The descent into violence in the Gaza Strip began on June 12 when three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and later murdered, triggering a major military crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank and an escalation of rocket fire from Gaza.

The revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager by Jewish extremists on July 2 added further fuel to the fire, turning into an all-out conflict on July 8 when Israel launched an air campaign against Gaza terrorists.

The Palestinian death toll from Israel’s punishing air campaign has hit 166.

So far, no Israelis have been killed, although terrorists in Gaza have pounded the country with nearly 800 rockets since the fighting began and a further 150 have been intercepted by the Jewish state’s Iron Dome defense system.

“I came to say no to this massacre,” Amid Hamadouch, 30, told AFP at the Paris protest while it was still peaceful, with a sticker reading “Boycott Israel, Racist State” on his jacket.

“They are bombing innocent people. There are missiles being launched by Hamas, but the Israeli response is disproportionate. They are attacking the civilian population and not Hamas officials.”

The crowd, very young, shouted slogans such as : “We Are All Palestinians!” and “Only One Solution, End the Occupation!”.

Many protesters carried banners on which they had stuck photos taken from the Internet, reportedly showing Palestinian children killed or injured, houses razed to the ground or clouds of smoke emerging from bombed districts in Gaza.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, a majority of those killed in Gaza so far — 70 percent — have been civilians, of whom 30 percent were children.

Israel News – The United States Is Trying To Stop a Ground Operation

July 13, 2014

The United States Is Trying To Stop a Ground Operation

The Cabinet Ministers are discussing the possibility of expanding the operation in Gaza.

Prior to the meeting, Secretary of State, John Kerry, spoke with Netanyahu and emphasized that the U.S. objects to a ground operation.

Hamas leadership is conducting negotiations to reach a cease-fire agreement

Jul 13, 2014, 07:00PM | Ran Archy

via Israel News – The United States Is Trying To Stop a Ground Operation – JerusalemOnline.

 

Khaled Mashal Photography: Reuters
 

American pressure on Israel to reach a cease-fire with Hamas and prevent a ground operation in Gaza: U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, spoke tonight (Sunday) with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Kerry condemned the rocket fire, but also expressed concern over the possibility of a ground operation.

Netanyahu and Kerry spoke about returning to the understandings that ended operation “Pillar of Defense”. Israeli officials say that at this point no satisfactory outline toward a cease-fire agreement was presented to Israel.

With the negotiations attempts pushing for a cease-fire agreement, and pressure from the Arab world, the Cabinet convened tonight once again. The discussion main issue is the possibility of expanding operation “Protective Edge”.

Two days ago, the Associated Press reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with U.S. President Barack Obama about the ongoing operation in the Gaza Strip. During the conversation, Obama suggested to Netanyahu that the U.S. will mediate between Israel and Hamas in order to stop the shooting.

According to the Obama proposal, both sides will cease fire, as part of the understandings reached by Israel and Hamas to end operation “Pillar of Defense”.

Obama also expressed his concern over the escalation of IDF attacks and condemned the rocket fire aimed at Israel. The American President stressed that Israel has the right to defend itself.

WATCH: Palestinian diplomat admits Hamas war crimes

July 13, 2014

WATCH: Palestinian diplomat admits Hamas war crimes, Ynet News, Aryeh Savir, Tazpit, July 13, 2014

(The video was broadcast on July 9th. Then, the Palestinian diplomat characterized Israel’s air strikes after giving warnings as consistent with international law and Hamas’ actions as in violation.  On July 13th, Abbas asked the UN to give “Palestine” international protection. He also “asked Switzerland, the depository of the fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in wartime, to summon the contracting parties and ask them to place sanctions on Israel as the occupying power responsible under the convention for the safety of civilians.” — DM)

Speaking on Palestinian TV, Ibrahim Khreisheh, envoy to UNHRC, says ‘missiles being launched against Israel constitute crime against humanity.’

The Palestinian delegate to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Ibrahim Khreisheh has admitted that Hamas is committing war crimes by firing rockets into Israel. Khreisheh was speaking on Palestinian television last week, in an interview translated by MEMRI (the Middle East Media Research Institute).

Responding to a question about the Palestinians’ demand to appeal to the International Criminal Court at The Hague (ICC) against Israel, Khreisheh responded: “The missiles that are now being launched against Israel, each and every missile constitutes a crime against humanity, whether it hits or missed, because it is directed at civilian targets…Therefore, targeting civilians, be it one civilian or a thousand, is considered a crime against humanity.”

Relating to Israel’s mode of operation in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge, Khreisheh states: “Please note that many of our people in Gaza appeared in TV and said that the Israeli army warned them to evacuate their homes before bombardment. In such a case, if someone is killed, the law considers it a mistake rather than intentional killing, because (the Israelis) followed the legal procedures.”

He goes on to say that Hamas, firing from PA controlled areas, does not warn civilians before firing on them and by doing so is committing a war crime: “As for the missiles launched from our side, we never warn anyone about where these missiles are about to fall, or about the operation we carry out.”

The envoy concludes by saying that the PA has no hope of pressing charges against Israel in international courts: “Therefore, people should know more before they talk emotionally about appealing to the ICC.”

Barrage of Rockets Fired At Jerusalem and the Southern Area of Israel

July 13, 2014

Barrage of Rockets Fired At Jerusalem and the Southern Area of Israel

It’s eight o’clock in the evening and the barrages of rockets are here: rockets were successfully intercepted by Iron Dome in Jerusalem, Gan Yavne and the Ariel area.

The U.S. is putting pressure on Israel: “We oppose a ground operation”

Jul 13, 2014, 09:07PM | Ran Arch

via Israel News – Barrage of Rockets Fired At Jerusalem and the Southern Area of Israel – JerusalemOnline.

Iron Dome

Warning sirens sounded tonight (Sunday) at around 20:00 in the areas of Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh, Modi’in and Ashdod. Iron Dome intercepted two rockets in Gan Yavne, another rocket was intercepted in the Jerusalem area, and a third one in the area of Ariel. No injuries were reported. Shortly before, a rocket exploded in an open area in the central area of Israel. The landing was recognized to be outside of any civilian population and so the warning sirens were not activated. There were no injuries reported in this incident too. The Islamic Jihad threatens to fire tonight at Tel-Aviv and the center area of Israel.

IDF Spokesman, Brigadier General Moti Almoz, told the Channel 2 News that the IDF: “continued today the heavy attacks in Gaza. We understand Hamas’ state of mind – they are tense. After six days of fighting we can carefully say that every plan they had – whether it was on the ground, in the air and also underground – has failed and did not produce even a minor achievement”.

As the fire at Israel’s continues, U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, spoke tonight with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Kerry condemned the rocket fire, but also expressed concern over the possibility of a ground operation.

Netanyahu and Kerry spoke about returning to the understandings that ended operation “Pillar of Defense”. Israeli officials say that at this point no satisfactory outline toward a cease-fire agreement was presented to Israel.

With the negotiations attempts pushing for a cease-fire agreement, and pressure from the Arab world, the Cabinet convened tonight once again. The discussion main issue is the possibility of expanding operation “Protective Edge”.

Abbas to UN: Give Palestine international protection

July 13, 2014

Abbas to UN: Give Palestine international protection, Times of Israel, July 13, 2014

(But see WATCH: Palestinian diplomat admits Hamas war crimes. — DM)

Palestinian leader to seek intervention in ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza Strip terror groups.

Abbas to UNPalestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas presents a letter to Robert Serry (L), the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, during a meeting at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah on July 13, 2014. (photo credit: AFP/ABBAS MOMANI)

Abbas has asked Switzerland, the depository of the fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in wartime, to summon the contracting parties and ask them to place sanctions on Israel as the occupying power responsible under the convention for the safety of civilians.

 

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas planned to ask the United Nations to put the state of Palestine under “international protection” in light of the worsening violence in the Gaza Strip, the Palestine Liberation Organization said Sunday.

“President Abbas presented a letter to the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, addressed to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, to officially put the State of Palestine under the UN international protection system and to form a legal committee for immediate follow-up,” it said in a statement.

Abbas also plans to ask for a commission of inquiry into Israel’s air bombardment of the Gaza Strip in an attempt to halt rocket fire into the Jewish state.

“Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is undertaking several steps and measures to deal with the horrific situation in Gaza,” senior Palestine Liberation Organization member Hanan Ashrawi said in a statement after a meeting of the PLO executive.

Abbas has asked Switzerland, the depository of the fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in wartime, to summon the contracting parties and ask them to place sanctions on Israel as the occupying power responsible under the convention for the safety of civilians.

Its recognition by the UN as a nonmember state has allowed Palestine to sign several international conventions, including the Geneva Conventions.

Sunday marked the sixth day of Operation Protective Edge in which the Israeli military aimed to stem Palestinian rocket fire at Israeli cities.

According to Palestinian sources, 166 people have been killed as a result of Israeli airstrike and 1,120 have been injured. Palestinian terror groups have fired some 800 rockets at Israeli towns and cities since the operation began.