Abbas urges UN to help Gaza; death toll tops 1360

Abbas urges UN to help Gaza; death toll tops 1360
Thu Jul 31, 2014 10:07:12

Palestine's acting President Mahmoud Abbas has said that Gaza has become a "humanitarian disaster area", urging the international community to take responsibility for the crisis and provide aid to the battered enclave, while the total death toll had surpassed 1,360.

In a Wednesday letter sent to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Abbas called on the international body to establish a buffer zone designated toward aiding hundreds of thousands of displaced Gaza residents.

"I call for the use of all tools available within the United Nations to provide relief and help to the Palestinian people during this grave humanitarian crisis," Abbas said in the letter, according to official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The PA leader also accused Israel of committing war crimes and depriving the Palestinian people of the right to life, and asked the international community to step in and protect the residents of Gaza.

Meanwhile, Abbas continued talks with Egypt, the US and other countries, as well as Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, to draft a cease-fire proposal that would stop the fighting in Gaza and launch negotiations between the Israeli regime and the Palestinian factions.

In Gaza, Ministry of Health Spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said Wednesday evening that the total death toll had surpassed 1,360 and 7,677 injured. Of those, 130 were killed and 400 injured on Wednesday alone, as even the temporary Israeli ceasefire failed to slow the carnage.

More than 240,000 -- or 1 in 8 Gazans -- have been displaced since July 8, when the Israeli regime has launched military attack on the Gaza Strip.

NTJ/NJF

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