Palestine calls for emergency Arab League meeting over ongoing Israeli crimes in northern Gaza

Palestine on Friday urged the Arab League to hold an emergency meeting in light of the ongoing Israeli massacres in the Gaza Strip, especially in its northern areas.

The request by the Palestinian Presidency came just after the Israeli army killed nearly 100 Palestinians in northern Gaza in the past 24 hours, including 75 killed in airstrikes on two homes in Beit Lahia.

The Palestinian Presidency statement, cited by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, called on the Arab League "to hold an emergency meeting at the level of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs given the ongoing Israeli genocidal aggression, forced displacement and starvation of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip."

The statement warned against Israel's "aggressive policies" aimed at separating the northern Gaza Strip from the rest of the strip, as it deploys "starvation as a method of warfare against Palestinians to displace them from their lands and houses."

Separately, Palestinian group Hamas also said the latest Israeli massacres in northern Gaza of two families are part of Israel's genocidal war on the enclave.

Hamas, in a statement, urged the international community and the UN to break the Israeli siege on northern Gaza and help relief and medical teams access the enclave to save people from Israel's “occupation systemic genocidal campaign."

Earlier, Gaza civil defense said as many as 100 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks and massacres in northern Gaza in the past 24 hours.

In a statement, civil defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal said 75 of the victims were killed in Israeli airstrikes on two homes of the Ahmad and Al-Baba families in Beit Lahia, while the others were targeted in Jabalia and other areas of northern Gaza.

Since last month, Israel has launched a large-scale ground operation in northern Gaza to allegedly prevent the Palestinian resistance group Hamas from regrouping. Palestinians, however, accuse Israel of seeking to occupy the area and forcibly displace its residents.

Since then, almost no humanitarian aid, including food, medicine, and fuel, has been allowed into the area, leaving most of the population there – currently estimated at 80,000 – on the verge of famine.

More than 2,700 people have since been killed in northern Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Overall, the Israeli onslaught that began after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks have killed more than 44,300 people in Gaza, leaving the enclave largely uninhabitable.

Last week, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its war on Gaza.