Arab League says Israeli escalation is a result of "international silence"

The Arab League has denounced Israel for killing five Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday, saying that the Israeli escalation “comes as a result of the international silence on the occupation authority’s violations”. Israeli bombs killed five Palestinians in central Gaza, bringing the total of Palestinians killed by Israel this month to 12. Ambassador Mohamed Sabih, the Assistant Secretary General for the Affairs of Palestine and the Occupied Arab Territories, described what happened as a crime that is being added to Israel’s criminal record; the victims were unarmed civilians.

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Speaking to journalists, Mr. Sabih said, “The Israeli raids and extrajudicial killings are a crime that is punishable under international law; what happened in Deir Al-Balah is cold-blooded murder. What is worrying is that Israeli aircraft attack areas that are crowded with civilians.” He demanded that the international community and human rights organisations “intervene immediately to stop Israeli terror”.

The Assistant Secretary General also urged the United Nations and the Mideast Quartet to work hard on “lifting the unjust Israeli siege that is imposed on the Gaza Strip”. He noted that “there are still a million and a half Palestinians living in a big prison, and we see large numbers of children, women, elderly and sick people dying as a result of this siege, which blocks medicine from reaching Gaza and blocks the people from leaving Gaza for medical treatment.” Lifting the siege, he added, “is an international moral responsibility”; its continuation, he said, “shames the international community and rights organisations”.