Arab foreign ministers hold emergency meeting to discuss Israeli attacks in Gaza

By Anadolu staff

Arab foreign ministers held an emergency meeting Wednesday in Cairo to discuss Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.

“We show our solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza because they face a massacre that must be stopped and condemned immediately,” Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said in his opening speech.

The meeting was held after a request by the Palestinian Authority to discuss Arab efforts to halt the Israeli bombardment.

Israeli forces launched a sustained and forceful military campaign against the Gaza Strip in response to a military offensive by the Palestinian group Hamas in Israeli territories.

The conflict began when Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel -- a multi-pronged surprise attack including a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel via land, sea and air.

Hamas said it was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and Israeli settlers’ growing violence against Palestinians.

The Israeli military launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets within the Gaza Strip in response.

That response was extended into cutting water and electricity supplies to Gaza, further worsening the living conditions in an area that has reeled under a crippling siege since 2007.

More than 2,300 people have been killed in the current bout of violence, including at least 1,100 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis.