Abbas Calls on Israel to End Deadly Attacks on Gaza
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas called on the Israeli regime to end its deadly strikes on the Gaza Strip.
In a Thursday statement read by his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina, Abbas called on Tel Aviv to “put an end to its military escalation” in the impoverished Palestinian enclave .
The statement follows the Israeli warplanes' bombardments of several areas in besieged Gaza during recent days.
The airstrikes began after the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group fired dozens of rockets into southern Israel to retaliate against an earlier Israeli drone strike.
The group has warned Tel Aviv against the continuation of the strikes.
On Tuesday, three Palestinians lost their lives after an Israeli drone carried out an airstrike on the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
The Islamic Jihad responded to the aggression by “a volley of rockets,” which Tel Aviv called the largest such incident since 2012, when it launched an eight-day air assault on the Gaza Strip, Press TV reported.
The Israeli regime launched a major military offensive against the besieged territory on November 14, 2012, leaving over 160 Palestinians, including many women and children, dead and about 1,200 others injured.
The 1.7 million Palestinians of the Gaza Strip are living in what is called the world's largest open-air prison as Israel retains full control of the airspace, territorial waters, and border crossings of the coastal sliver.
The Israeli military also frequently launches attacks in the coastal enclave, claiming they are conducted for defensive purposes. However, disproportionate force is always used in violation of international law, and civilians are often killed or injured.