Muslim world slams "Israeli" crimes
Source: Agencies, 22-01-2008
Islamic & Mideast states were increasingly worried Monday over worsening Gaza situation following "Israel's" fuel cuts to the coastal strip.
Lebanon and Syria called for an emergency Arab summit to discuss the "Israeli" blockade and military operations.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Islamic and Arabic countries should urgently stop the Zionists from continuing their crimes and called for an emergency meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the official IRNA news agency reported.
"Israel" had cut off shipments of fuel to the only power plant in the Gaza Strip and closed border crossings to the territory since Friday. On Monday, it authorized a one-time fuel shipment.
In addition to the fuel cuts and blockade, "Israel" has also stepped up military operations in Gaza. Since last Tuesday, more than 35 Gazans have been martyred, including a son of Mahmoud Zahar, the most senior Hamas leader in Gaza.
Yemen calls for Arab summit
Sana'a, Yemen - Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Monday called on his fellow Arab leaders to hold an emergency summit to discuss the "Israeli" lockdown of the Gaza Strip and military operations in the area, the state news agency reported.
In a phone call to Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa, Saleh urged a meeting at the foreign minister level to prepare for an Arab summit early in February.
He called "Israeli" actions in Gaza "insulting to all Arabs," the report said.
Syria urges foreign intervention to end Gaza blockade
Damascus - Syrian Foreign Ministry demanded "an immediate end to the collective punishment and "Israeli" crimes,'' saying "Israel" was violating" the simplest rules of human rights.''
Syria called for international intervention on Monday to secure the lifting of "Israel's" crippling four-day-old blockade of Gaza, which it said flew in the face of talk of a renewed peace process.
"Syria believes... that the lifting of the blockade being imposed on the Palestinian people is an Arab and international responsibility and that it requires immediate intervention to halt these collective punishments and crimes by "Israel"," a foreign ministry statement said.
The ministry said Gaza now faced a "human tragedy as a result of the violation by 'Israel' of the most basic of human rights".
The Gaza Strip, where most of the 1.5 million residents depend on aid, has been sealed off since Thursday when "Israel" closed all crossing points into the territory in response to persistent rocket attacks.
Clashes between the army and Gaza militants sharply escalated after an "Israeli" operation killed 19 Palestinians, mostly gunmen, on Tuesday in the deadliest single day in Gaza in more than a year.
Since then, "Israeli" raids have killed 37 people, most of them militants, and gunmen have launched some 200 rockets or mortar rounds into "Israel", wounding at least 10 people.
Syria called on Palestinians to close ranks in the face of the crisis.
"The Palestinian cause is going through a dangerous period which requires all Palestinians to display unity and prioritise it over any differences," the ministry statement said.
IIP urges World community
Baghdad - The Iraqi Islamic party, under Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, on Monday urged the international community and leaders of Arab and Islamic countries to take immediate action to break the "Israeli" siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.
In a statement released today and received by Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI), the party called on all Palestinian factions' leaders to unify ranks and favor the national interest.
It urged all peoples, including Iraqis, to exert relentless efforts to support their brothers in Palestine and provide them with all their needs.
A number of international organizations cited serious repercussions of the siege on the daily life of Gazans.
More Mideast States
Earlier Monday, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called Barak and "Israeli" Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and urged them to ease the blockade.
Jordanian columnist Bassam Emoush linked the Gaza developments with this month's Mideast visit by US President George W. Bush, who he said blamed the Arabs for the region's shortcomings but failed to "mention those responsible for massacres'' against the Palestinians.
In Kuwait, the foreign ministry said it has asked the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to pressure "Israel" to lift the Gaza siege.
Foreign ministry undersecretary Khaled al-Jarrallah told the ambassadors of the five countries it was their "international responsibility'' to do this, state-owned Kuwait News Agency said.
France "deplores" blockade
Paris - The French Foreign Ministry said Monday that Paris "very much deplores" the "Israeli" blockade of Gaza and the power cuts and food shortages it produced.
"We have expressed our very deep concern regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza," a spokesman for the ministry said in a statement.
He said France urged the reopening of crossing points "and the immediate resumption of fuel deliveries to allow the central electric power station to be turned on again."
He added that the crisis made even more urgent the payment of the 7.4 billion dollars in aid pledged by the international community to the Palestinians at a donor conference held in Paris on December 17.
"This aid concerns all of the Palestinian Territories, and therefore also Gaza," the spokesman said.
WHO condemns blockade
Geneva - The head of the United Nations' World Health Organization (WHO) condemned the "grave situation" in the Gaza Strip Monday and voiced her concern over its impact on the population's health.
Dr Margaret Chan said the spread of infectious disease was only one problem facing the 1.5 million strong population.
"Disruption in the continuity of essential services take a heavy toll on people needing emergency care and those suffering from conditions such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes," she said.
She was addressing members of the WHO executive board meeting in Geneva a day after the fuel blockade by "Israel" forced the closure of the only electricity plant Sunday evening, leaving large parts of the Strip in darkness and without power.
Warnings by the international community of a humanitarian disaster amid fuel and food shortages in the Strip have intensified in response to the deteriorating situation.
Officials in Gaza have warned that hospitals were running on diesel-operated emergency generators, which would soon run out of fuel.
Islamic & Mideast states were increasingly worried Monday over worsening Gaza situation following "Israel's" fuel cuts to the coastal strip.
Lebanon and Syria called for an emergency Arab summit to discuss the "Israeli" blockade and military operations.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Islamic and Arabic countries should urgently stop the Zionists from continuing their crimes and called for an emergency meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the official IRNA news agency reported.
"Israel" had cut off shipments of fuel to the only power plant in the Gaza Strip and closed border crossings to the territory since Friday. On Monday, it authorized a one-time fuel shipment.
In addition to the fuel cuts and blockade, "Israel" has also stepped up military operations in Gaza. Since last Tuesday, more than 35 Gazans have been martyred, including a son of Mahmoud Zahar, the most senior Hamas leader in Gaza.
Yemen calls for Arab summit
Sana'a, Yemen - Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Monday called on his fellow Arab leaders to hold an emergency summit to discuss the "Israeli" lockdown of the Gaza Strip and military operations in the area, the state news agency reported.
In a phone call to Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa, Saleh urged a meeting at the foreign minister level to prepare for an Arab summit early in February.
He called "Israeli" actions in Gaza "insulting to all Arabs," the report said.
Syria urges foreign intervention to end Gaza blockade
Damascus - Syrian Foreign Ministry demanded "an immediate end to the collective punishment and "Israeli" crimes,'' saying "Israel" was violating" the simplest rules of human rights.''
Syria called for international intervention on Monday to secure the lifting of "Israel's" crippling four-day-old blockade of Gaza, which it said flew in the face of talk of a renewed peace process.
"Syria believes... that the lifting of the blockade being imposed on the Palestinian people is an Arab and international responsibility and that it requires immediate intervention to halt these collective punishments and crimes by "Israel"," a foreign ministry statement said.
The ministry said Gaza now faced a "human tragedy as a result of the violation by 'Israel' of the most basic of human rights".
The Gaza Strip, where most of the 1.5 million residents depend on aid, has been sealed off since Thursday when "Israel" closed all crossing points into the territory in response to persistent rocket attacks.
Clashes between the army and Gaza militants sharply escalated after an "Israeli" operation killed 19 Palestinians, mostly gunmen, on Tuesday in the deadliest single day in Gaza in more than a year.
Since then, "Israeli" raids have killed 37 people, most of them militants, and gunmen have launched some 200 rockets or mortar rounds into "Israel", wounding at least 10 people.
Syria called on Palestinians to close ranks in the face of the crisis.
"The Palestinian cause is going through a dangerous period which requires all Palestinians to display unity and prioritise it over any differences," the ministry statement said.
IIP urges World community
Baghdad - The Iraqi Islamic party, under Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, on Monday urged the international community and leaders of Arab and Islamic countries to take immediate action to break the "Israeli" siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.
In a statement released today and received by Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI), the party called on all Palestinian factions' leaders to unify ranks and favor the national interest.
It urged all peoples, including Iraqis, to exert relentless efforts to support their brothers in Palestine and provide them with all their needs.
A number of international organizations cited serious repercussions of the siege on the daily life of Gazans.
More Mideast States
Earlier Monday, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called Barak and "Israeli" Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and urged them to ease the blockade.
Jordanian columnist Bassam Emoush linked the Gaza developments with this month's Mideast visit by US President George W. Bush, who he said blamed the Arabs for the region's shortcomings but failed to "mention those responsible for massacres'' against the Palestinians.
In Kuwait, the foreign ministry said it has asked the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to pressure "Israel" to lift the Gaza siege.
Foreign ministry undersecretary Khaled al-Jarrallah told the ambassadors of the five countries it was their "international responsibility'' to do this, state-owned Kuwait News Agency said.
France "deplores" blockade
Paris - The French Foreign Ministry said Monday that Paris "very much deplores" the "Israeli" blockade of Gaza and the power cuts and food shortages it produced.
"We have expressed our very deep concern regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza," a spokesman for the ministry said in a statement.
He said France urged the reopening of crossing points "and the immediate resumption of fuel deliveries to allow the central electric power station to be turned on again."
He added that the crisis made even more urgent the payment of the 7.4 billion dollars in aid pledged by the international community to the Palestinians at a donor conference held in Paris on December 17.
"This aid concerns all of the Palestinian Territories, and therefore also Gaza," the spokesman said.
WHO condemns blockade
Geneva - The head of the United Nations' World Health Organization (WHO) condemned the "grave situation" in the Gaza Strip Monday and voiced her concern over its impact on the population's health.
Dr Margaret Chan said the spread of infectious disease was only one problem facing the 1.5 million strong population.
"Disruption in the continuity of essential services take a heavy toll on people needing emergency care and those suffering from conditions such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes," she said.
She was addressing members of the WHO executive board meeting in Geneva a day after the fuel blockade by "Israel" forced the closure of the only electricity plant Sunday evening, leaving large parts of the Strip in darkness and without power.
Warnings by the international community of a humanitarian disaster amid fuel and food shortages in the Strip have intensified in response to the deteriorating situation.
Officials in Gaza have warned that hospitals were running on diesel-operated emergency generators, which would soon run out of fuel.
