Palestinians request international conference on Gaza situation

The Foreign Ministry of Switzerland confirmed that it has received a letter from the Palestinians which requested for signatories of the Geneva Conventions to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip, said Swiss media on Friday.
According to the local media Swissinfo, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the letter urged Switzerland, the depository state of the Geneva Conventions, to convene an international conference of the signatories on the respect of humanitarian law in the context of the escalated situation in the Gaza Strip.
The Geneva Conventions are the core international humanitarian law aimed to protect civilians, the wounded and sick, prisoners of war and medical personnel during conflict situations.
According to the Palestinians, which joined the Conventions and its protocols in April this year, the terms of the agreement were being breached by Israel's current military action in the Gaza Strip.
It was analyzed that an emergency meeting of the signatories of the Conventions would allow Abbas to put pressure on Israel.
Under the statutory terms, Switzerland has to carry out diplomatic consultations to see whether there is enough support for such a conference, as it was introduced.
Didier Burkhalter, current President of the Swiss Confederation, who is also the Swiss Foreign Minister, said that he has explained the procedure to Abbas, and the Swiss foreign ministry was holding exploratory talks for a possible international conference in this regard.
Israel launched the "Operation Protective Edge" on July 8, and has dropped hundreds of tons of bombs into Hamas-controlled Gaza from air, land and sea, while Hamas and other Palestinian groups fired over 1,000 rockets at Israel.
Palestinian medical officials said that the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 240 as of Thursday, with more than 1,770 injuries, and most of the casualties were civilians, including 25 children.
On Thursday night Israel launched a ground offensive on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip after days of heavy bombardment, making the prospect for a quick truce even dimmer.