UN asks Israel to immediately halt plan to occupy Gaza

UN human rights chief Volker Turk on Friday said that "the Israeli Government's plan for a complete military takeover of the occupied Gaza Strip must be immediately halted".

"It runs contrary to the ruling of the International Court of Justice that Israel must bring its occupation to an end as soon as possible, to the realisation of the agreed two-State solution and to the right of Palestinians to self-determination," he said in a statement.