Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas suspends contact with Israel
Mahmoud Abbas has suspended contact with Israel
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Sunday, 02, Mar 2008 08:16
The Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has suspended contact with Israel in protest against the recent assault on Gaza which has led to large number of deaths.
Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert today refused to call off the Gaza offensive saying: "Israel has no intention of stopping the fight against the terrorists organisations even for a minute."
Earlier, the United Nations (UN) secretary general Ban Ki-moon denounced the violence in Gaza between Israel and Hamas militants that claimed 50 lives yesterday.
Israel had warned of staging a massive offensive into the Palestinian-administered territory if rocket attacks into Israel from Gaza did not stop immediately and on Saturday Israeli soldiers, backed up by tanks and army helicopters, moved into the area in a limited operation.
Over 50 Palestinians, including 17 children, and two Israeli soldiers died in the resulting violence.
The UN secretary general called for an end to the violence while criticising the scale of the operations by the Jewish state.
In a statement, Mr Ban said: "While recognising Israel's right to defend itself, I condemn the disproportionate and excessive use of force that has killed and injured so many civilians, including children. I call on Israel to cease such attacks.
"I condemn Palestinian rocket attacks and call for the immediate cessation of such acts of terrorism," he added.
The UN security council, the organisation's highest body, also said it was "deeply concerned" by the loss of civilian life in the area but avoided pinning the blame on either side.
Instead, it called on both parties to immediately end violent activities.
The increased violence comes after persistent rocket attacks from Hamas into Israel in the past week. The missiles began to penetrate areas beyond the Israeli town of Sderot, the town which faces the most frequent attacks.
Israel left Gaza in 2005 but Hamas, which refuses to accept Israel's existence, took over control of the territory from rival Palestinian party Fatah last year after clashes between the two groups.