Abbas urges US to press Israel to end military escalation
25/6/2006 10:42
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has urged the United States to press
Israel to stop military escalation against the Palestinians, mainly in the Gaza
Strip, an aide to Abbas said yesterday.
Yasser Abed Rabbo, who is also a
member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO), told reporters that during a Friday phone conversation between Abbas and
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Abbas called for US intervention to get
Israel to stop launching airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.
So far this month,
over 20 Palestinians, many of them civilians, have been killed by Israeli
strikes targeting Palestinian militants in Gaza, said Abed Rabbo.
Rice, on
her part, pledged to press Israel to work to instill calm in the region, said
Abed Rabbo, adding that the US official also urged Abbas to exert efforts to
achieve calm.
Israel has expressed regret for the loss of civilian lives in
the airstrikes, but said that it would continue to target militants who fire
rockets onto Israel.
Palestinian militants have recently stepped up rockets
attacks against the Jewish state, but the attacks rarely result in casualties.
Xinhua
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