Arab League condemns Israel's 'systematic aggression' against Palestinians

Cairo, April 14 (IANS) The Arab League (AL) condemned the ongoing "extensive and systematic aggression" in Jenin and other parts of the occupied Palestinian territories, the Cairo-based pan-Arab organisation said in a statement.

The AL on Wednesday denounced Israel's massive security campaign that has been going on for days, which included unprecedented incursions, arrests and home demolitions against the Palestinians, Xinhua news agency reported.

It described the current Israeli military operations as an "open war on the occupied Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem," holding the Israeli government fully and directly responsible for its repercussions.

The pan-Arab organisation urged all countries and international bodies and organisations to take urgent and responsible measures to pressure Israel to immediately stop aggression against the Palestinians and to provide "international protection" for them.

The recent Israeli raids in Jenin, which killed several Palestinians, came in response to last week's attack by a Palestinian gunman that killed three people on one of the streets in Israel's coastal city of Tel Aviv.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said after the attack that there would be "no limits for this war," granting "full freedom" to the Israeli army and security forces to deal with the Palestinians.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has lasted for decades, following the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the founding of Israel as a state in 1948.

The Palestinians seek to establish their own independent state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on the UN-backed two-state solution.