Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he spoke by telephone with his Egyptian counterpart on Tuesday about the situation in Gaza. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said Egypt would try to exert pressure to end Israeli attacks on Gaza and expressed his commitment to the safety of Palestinians, according to Abbas. An Israeli operation against Gaza militants on Tuesday has killed 28 people and wounded more than 150, in the deadliest day of violence in the coastal strip since 2012. The Gaza flare-up began in mid-June during Israel's search for the three teens, when Israel arrested many Hamas members across the West Bank. The Israeli military says more than 160 Gaza rockets have struck Israel since. Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have risen over the killing of three Jewish teenagers in the occupied West Bank, which Israel has blamed on Hamas, and of a 16-year-old Palestinian in East Jerusalem. According to the Palestine-based Wafa news agency, quoting Abbas, El-Sisi stressed Egypt's keenness for Gaza to avoid such "dangerous attacks" and for the escalation to stop so that a truce could be reached as soon possible. Abbas added that El-Sisi had promised Egypt would continue to exert efforts to put an immediate end to the attacks. For his part, the Palestinian president stressed the necessity for all factions involved in the 2012 ceasefire agreement to commit to the pact. An Egyptian-brokered ceasefire was enforced in November 2012, ending hostilities between the Palestinian and Israeli sides which had claimed the lives of at least 165 Palestinians, including more than 30 children, and six Israelis. Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied having any role in the disappearance of the Israeli youths. Source : Ahram online
