Israel holds off Gaza ground assault
Israel slowed the pace of its raids on Gaza yesterday and held off a threatened ground incursion as the world intensified efforts to broker a truce around the Palestinian territory.
With Israel's campaign to halt cross-border rocket fire entering its seventh day, Arab ministers were poised to hold an emergency meeting to discuss moves to end the bloodshed.
And Jordan's King Abdullah II warned of the dangers the crisis could pose for the wider region, demanding Israel "stop targeting civilians" as the death toll hit 177.
But as diplomatic efforts gained momentum, the pace of both Israel's raids on Gaza and the militant rocket fire slowed noticeably, with commentators drawing a link with behind-the-scenes ceasefire efforts.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon has urged Israel to scrap plans for a ground offensive, saying "too many" Palestinian civilians have lost their lives.
The Arab League has called on the international community to end Israeli air strikes on Gaza and to protect Palestinians, ahead of a foreign ministers' meeting yesterday.
The Arab League "affirmed the necessity of urgent steps for an immediate end to the Israeli aggression on Gaza and providing protection for the Palestinians", the report said.
Israeli "air strikes on Gaza have become a matter that cannot be met with silence any more", it said.
The pan-Arab organisation "demands that the international community intervene through its legal and humanitarian institutions to protect the Palestinian people".
The call echoes a demand by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority is based.
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