Arab League accuses Israel of ethnic cleansing

CAIRO - The Arab League Parliament has convened an extraordinary meeting in Cairo to express solidarity with the Palestinians and condemn Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip.

Those in attendance at the meeting Wednesday wore traditional Palestinian black-and-white scarves in a sign of support.

The Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said: “The truth is becoming crystal clear now with all its ugliness and hideousness: we are before a colonizing people that lives under an apartheid state and an occupation government that systematically practices ethnic cleansing.”

Others also criticized Israel, with Arab Parliament Speaker Adel Al-Asoumi accusing Israel of “war crimes and of full-fledged crimes against humanity.”

In a televised speech, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed Arab delegates, calling Jerusalem “the essence of the Palestinian national identity.”

He said: “Without it, there will be no peace, no security, no stability and no agreement.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says Israel is carrying out “organized state terrorism and war crimes” in Gaza that are punishable under international law.

In a televised address Wednesday, he said the Palestinians “will not hesitate to pursue those who commit such crimes in front of international courts.”

Abbas is the head of the internationally backed Palestinian Authority, whose forces were driven from Gaza when the militant Hamas group seized power in 2007. The PA has limited autonomy in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Earlier this year, the International Criminal Court launched an investigation into possible war crimes committed by Israel and Palestinian militants during the last Gaza war, in 2014. It has expressed concern about the latest round of fighting.

Abbas accused Israel of “brutal attacks on civilians and deliberate bombardment of homes.” Israel says it only strikes militant targets and makes every effort to avoid harming civilians, including by warning people ahead of some strikes.

Hamas and other militant groups have launched hundreds of rockets into Israel. The indiscriminate fire is widely seen as violating international law.