Abbas declares Gaza a 'humanitarian disaster zone'
Palestinian president urges UN secretary-general to press international institutions to supply emergency aid to Gaza.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared Gaza as a "humanitarian disaster zone" on Wednesday night.
He demanded UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to take responsibility along with the international community to take the necessary steps to implement the announcement in order to supply provisions for the emergency needs of the Gaza Strip's residents.
Abbas also called on Ban to encourage international institutions belonging to the UN to provide immediate aid to the Strip because of the severe humanitarian situation caused by Operation Protective Edge.
The PA leader urged the UN to supply the besieged citizens of Gaza with shelters, food provisions, drinking water, and medications – as well as opening up humanitarian passageways across the Strip to ease the access to aid.
In a letter submitted to the UN on the matter, Abbas repeated his demand to provide the Palestinian people with international protection from Israeli actions. He emphasized that Israeli claims of self-defense to justify the 'criminal operation' were invalid.
Wednesday marked another violent day in the Gaza Strip, with at least 108 people killed in IDF strikes according to medical sources in Gaza. The Palestinian sources noted that 20 additional bodies were pulled out of wrecked structures, leaving the total number of casualties at 1,359 since the operation began, with 7,600 wounded.
Elior Levy contributed to this report.
