¡¡¡¡UNITED NATIONS, July 24 (Xinhuanet) -- At the request of the Arab Group, the UN Security Council held an open meeting Wednesday evening to debate on the latest developments in the Middle East.

¡¡¡¡As the first speaker at the debate, Palestinian Permanent Observer to the United Nations Nasser Kidwa condemned Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian land and its deadly air strike on Gaza City on Monday.

¡¡¡¡"The bombing attack does constitute a war crime," Kidwa noted.

¡¡¡¡It was a brutal breach of the international humanitarian law and was within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, the permanent observer said.

¡¡¡¡He was echoed by most of the speakers who urged immediate actions from the 15-member Security Council to address the dangerous situation in the region.

¡¡¡¡Chinese Permanent Representative to the United Nations Wang Yingfan stressed that military actions against civilians violate the international humanitarian law.

¡¡¡¡Strongly condemning the killing of innocent people by Israeli soldiers, Wang said the new military action severely dampened efforts by the international community to solve the Middle East conflict.

¡¡¡¡He also called on the Palestinians to exercise restraint and stop violence such as suicide bombings to prevent the situation from getting further complicated.

¡¡¡¡In a letter addressed to the council, Fawzi Shobokshi, Saudi ambassador to the United Nations, said an urgent meeting is neededto ensure the implementation of the relevant council resolutions on the Middle East.

¡¡¡¡"The Arab Group requests the Security Council to consider the adoption of the necessary immediate measures to ensure an end to the current tragic situation," he said in his capacity as the current chairman of the Arab Group.

¡¡¡¡In Monday's raid, an Israeli F-16 warplane dropped a powerful one-town precision "smart bomb" on a densely-populated Gaza City neighborhood, killing 15 Palestinians and wounding at least 145 others. Enditem