Abbas calls for international help

WATCH VIDEO

Source: CCTV.com | 01-07-2009 14:39

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is calling on the UN Security Council to take -- "the first necessary step" -- to save the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Abbas made the appeal on Tuesday during a meeting in New York.

Mahmoud Abbas (front), president of the Palestinian Authority, addresses the Security Council during the meeting on Gaza crisis at the UN headquarters in New York, the United States, Jan. 6, 2009.  (Xinhua/Hou Jun)

The gathering brought foreign ministers from Security Council members and Arab states together in an effort to end Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip.

During Tuesday's Security Council meeting, Mahmoud Abbas said he supported a proposal by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for an immediate truce between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza.

Abbas also criticized Israel for ignoring worldwide calls for an end to its military campaign in Gaza. He also blamed Israel for the large number of civilian deaths its military offensive has caused.

Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian President, said, "The Israeli machine of destruction continues to kill, to commit the most heinous of possible crimes despite international unanimity, an unprecedented unanimity in calling for an end of this massacre against innocent civilians that do not deserve such brutality."

But Israel defended its military action.