Arab League ready to 'cooperate' with Palestinians on prosecuting Israelis

The Arab League will not hesitate to cooperate with the Palestinians on taking legal action on Israeli officials responsible for the killing and wounding of Palestinian civilians, Secretary General Nabil Al-Araby said on Thursday.
Al-Araby stressed the need to form an international fact-finding mission to investigate the war crimes being committed by Israel in Gaza, and to take the necessary steps aimed at apprehending those indicted.
He told Arab lawmakers gathered for Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union (AIPU) talks, headed by Kuwaiti National Assembly chief Marzouq Al-Ghanim, in Cairo that the "humanitarian calamity the people of Gaza are living under require coordinated efforts and support from us all." These efforts are required in order to "lift some of the suffering and deteriorating conditions they are experiencing as a result of the current aggression and blockade." On the role of Arab parliaments, he said in his keynote speech that this was necessary in order to gain the backing and support of international parliaments for the Palestinian cause.
Speaking about the two meetings held on the issue over a three-day period, the last of which was on the level of foreign ministers, he said that this was a message to the whole world that "no matter what the political situation was in the Arab world - the Palestinian issue is the most fundamental and central to its governments, parliaments and people." Arab nations "will never hesitate to support the Palestinian people and their right to struggle, in all forms, for the establishment of an independent able-bodied Palestinian state," he underlined.
The meeting of Arab ministers, held two days ago, released two resolutions fiercely condemning the "Israeli brutal aggression" against civilians, deeming its heavy bombardment on Gaza as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In their other resolutions, the ministers backed Egypt's initiative for a ceasefire and pledged total support to the Palestinian unity government.
For his part, Palestinian parliament speaker Salim Al-Zanoun said that the ongoing Israeli air strikes are part of a long series of systematic assaults and breaches, which include assassinations, the destruction of homes, arrests, confiscation of land, settlement construction and the continuing building of an 'apartheid separation' wall.
Israeli authorities have also allowed hordes of protesters, carrying arms, to practice all kinds of humiliation, provocation and assault on Palestinian people and their Islamic and Christian holy sites.
He also accused Israel of 'switching the facts', whereby it wrongfully accused Palestinians of killing the three Israeli settlers - despite no groups announcing responsibility for the incident.
Al-Zanoun also said that the Israelis are still launching a comprehensive land, air and sea aggression on Gaza, using all "hellish" tools of destruction and killing, that include "internationally-banned weapons" to target houses, people, civil institutions and infrastructure.
About 200 Palestinians have been killed so far, and more than 1,000 others injured and other thousands became homeless.
He expressed hope that the Egyptian initiative will curb the "Israeli aggression on Gaza and guarantee it will never happen again, as well as lifting the unfair siege of the Gaza Strip and opening the crossings between the two sides.
For Al-Zanoun, Israel's aggression on Gaza targets the Palestinian reconciliation and national unity that has been recently achieved, together with getting out the ruling coalition in Israel of an internal crisis.
He also hoped that the UN will establish a new system to put the Palestinian territories under international protection, saying the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas had urged the Arab parliaments to back the proposal.
The Palestinian speaker also called for an international conference for the state signatories of the Geneva Conventions to force Israel to respect the treaties and apply them on the Palestinian people who are under occupation.
For his part, the head of the UAE Federal National Council Mohammed Ahmed Al-Mor, warned that the policy of oppression, maltreatment, massive killing and destruction adopted by Israel against the Palestinian people, will not only have grave consequences on security and stability, but on the world's security and peace as well.
Al-Mor called for backing the Palestinians' efforts seeking international protection for the people in Gaza, urging pressure on the US Congress and the European parliaments so that their governments will support the Palestinian demand at the UN.
He also urged the formation of an international parliamentary investigation committee on the results of the blatant Israeli aggression and the use of excessive power against the Palestinian people.