RAMALLAH - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas called on Thursday for “an immediate end to the comprehensive aggression against the Palestinian people”, his office said following a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

These were his first public remarks since a massive Hamas onslaught on southern Israeli communities early on Saturday that spiralled into deadly war.

Mr Abbas rejected “practices of killing civilians or abusing them on both sides because they contravene morals, religion and international law”, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa quoted him as saying.

Mr Abbas and King Abdullah II met in Amman and discussed “ways to stop the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and deliver aid and relief” to Hamas-controlled Gaza, according to a statement.

He stressed Palestinians “renounce violence and adhere to international legitimacy, peaceful popular resistance, and political action as a path to achieving our national goals”.

Mr Abbas also “warned of the danger of the only power plant in the Gaza Strip stopping working due to running out of fuel” and urged action to secure the supply of electricity and water as well as “opening urgent humanitarian corridors”.

With dozens of Israeli civilians and security personnel believed to be held captive in Gaza and Palestinian militants captured by Israel, Mr Abbas called “for the release of civilians, prisoners and detainees”.

The Palestinian Authority which Mr Abbas heads is based in the occupied West Bank, while his rival Hamas controls the Gaza Strip. AFP, REUTERS