State of emergency declared in Gaza

At least 56 Palestinians have been killed, most of them in Gaza, since Israel launched its latest offensive, Operation Days of Reckoning, earlier this week.

The latest deaths came when two members of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas were killed when an Israeli missile slammed into their car in the Jabalya refugee camp on Saturday, Palestinian security sources said.

Hamas loyalists rushed the bodies to the morgue and vowed revenge against Israel.

About 200 tanks and armoured vehicles have been operating in the area since Tuesday.

"The cabinet has declared a state of emergency throughout the Palestinian territories in order to come to the aid of the people of the Gaza Strip, victims of horrible crimes committed by the Israeli army," a statement issued by the Palestinian cabinet said.

All ministries and public institutions were called on to concentrate their efforts on providing assistance to the people of Gaza.

At the same time, officials said Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Quraya had cancelled a trip to Russia and Turkey in order to attend an emergency cabinet session to be held later in the day.

Silence deplored

Denouncing what it called "world silence in the face of the magnitude of crimes committed", the statement called on the international quartet that drafted a Middle East peace plan last year to "intervene immediately to ensure the protection of our people".

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