The Arab League is calling for the UN Security Council to hold an urgent meeting to discuss the deadly Israeli air campaign against the Gaza Strip, Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi says.
Twelve people were killed on Tuesday and another 80 wounded in a number of attacks in the most serious flare-up in and around the Palestinian territory since November 2012.
An official from the pan-Arab bloc said Arabi had "instructed the Arab League's UN representative to initiate urgent consultations within the Arab group calling for an emergency security meeting of the Security Council."
Earlier, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas asked the international community to "immediately intervene to halt this dangerous escalation which would lead the region to more destruction and instability".
Arabi said he had been "in touch with president Abbas to follow the latest developments in the Gaza Strip" while also continuing "consultations with Arab foreign ministers on this subject".
He denounced the "dangerous Israeli escalation" and warned against its humanitarian consequences in Gaza.
"The continued attacks on Palestinian civilians by Israel is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, the Geneva Convention and international resolutions on occupied Palestine," said the Arab League chief.
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