UPDATE - Gulf bloc condemns Israeli attack on Gaza refugee camp

ADDS MORE STATEMENTS ON PLAN BACKED BY BIDEN, CHANGES DECK

By Ibrahim al-Khazin

CAIRO (AA) - Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries issued a statement Sunday condemning an Israeli attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza that killed scores of "defenseless Palestinian civilians.”

At least 274 people were killed and nearly 700 others injured in an Israeli bombardment of the camp on Saturday, according to local health authorities.

The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry termed the Israeli attack “barbaric” and a “flagrant violation of international law."

It called on the international community and the UN Security Council “to shoulder their responsibilities to stop this barbaric aggression against the Palestinian people."

Oman’s Foreign Ministry denounced Israel’s “systematic war crimes against the Palestinian people.”

It called on the international community to “urgently intervene to put an end to these crimes against humanity, protect civilians, and hold the Israeli occupation state responsible for its actions."

- 'Barbaric aggression reveals true face of Israel'

The GCC, which also includes Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, issued a separate statement denouncing the Israeli attack.

“This attack is a heinous and terrorist crime that targeted innocent, defenseless people with unprecedented brutality,” said GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi.

“This barbaric aggression reveals the true face of the Israeli occupation forces and demonstrates their complete disregard for all international conventions and humanitarian values,” he said.

Albudaiwi called on the international community “to assume its historical and moral responsibilities and take immediate and decisive action to stop these repeated and horrific crimes against the brotherly Palestinian people.”

-Call to ‘seriously’ respond to cease-fire plan backed by US president

The Gulf bloc called in its statement for “a positive and serious response” to a Gaza cease-fire plan supported by US President Joe Biden.

“The Council stressed the need to build on this declaration to reach a political framework to resume negotiations in order to achieve comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution, praising the efforts made by the State of Qatar and the Arab Republic of Egypt to achieve a cease-fire and stop the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip,” it said.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 37,000 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and nearly 84,500 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi and Rania Abu Shamala