RAMALLAH, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has urged international community to stop the Israeli escalation in Gaza Strip that has killed 23 Palestinians, his spokesperson said Wednesday.
Abbas's spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeinah said in a press statement published by the official Palestinian News Agency (WAFA) that the president has urged the international community, particularly the UN, "to intervene and pressure Israel to stop its continued assault on our people in Gaza Strip, and to respect international law and legitimacy."
The statement warned against grave consequences of this escalation "in light of the ongoing tension and instability in the region."
A Palestinian source said that Egypt and the UN have moved to curb tension and prevent it from sliding into a broad confrontation similar to the 2014 war in which more than 2,000 Palestinians were killed.
The source told Xinhua that Egyptian officials and UN envoy to the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov are holding bilateral contacts with concerned parties in order to return to the cease-fire understandings that had been reached in Gaza last year.
Meanwhile, heath authorities in Gaza said that the death toll due to Israeli bombing in Gaza raised to 23 and over 70 were injured.
The new wave of violence broke out on Tuesday after Israel killed senior Islamic Jihad militant Baha Abu al-Atta and his wife in an airstrike on his house in eastern Gaza City.
