Palestinian president urges UN to double efforts to halt Israeli war on Gaza

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the United Nations on Sunday to double its efforts to halt Israel's deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Abbas met with Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland in the West Bank city of Ramallah for talks on the situation in the Palestinian territories.

The Palestinian leader conveyed a verbal message to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in which he urged the UN to make more efforts to end the Israeli aggression against the Palestinians, the official news agency Wafa reported.

He also called for a complete Israeli withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip and ensuring no land is annexed by Israel in the enclave.

Abbas also demanded increasing humanitarian and relief aid into Gaza "amid the current harsh weather conditions there," Wafa said.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on Gaza following an Oct. 7 Hamas attack, killing at least 27,365 Palestinians and injuring 66,630 others. Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza's population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.