PLO official urges Gaza factions to cooperate on cease-fire

RAMALLAH, March 27 (Xinhua) -- A senior Palestinian official urged on Wednesday the Palestinian factions and their armed wings in the Gaza Strip to cooperate on enforcing a cease-fire with Israel.

Saeb Erekat, Secretary General of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee, told a news conference that "calm in the Gaza Strip is of high Palestinian interest."

"Saving the lives of our people in the Gaza Strip is necessary because their lives are so precious," Erekat, who called on Gaza factions to cooperate with the Egyptian efforts to succeed the calm understanding, told reporters.

Egypt and the United Nations have been mediating a clam between Israel and the Palestinian factions and their armed wings, mainly Islamic Hamas movement, to end a wave of tension that has been prevailing in the past few days.

After a rocket that was fired from the Gaza Strip and hit central Israel, where several buildings were destroyed in northern Tel Aviv and seven Israelis were wounded, the Israeli army and Gaza militants have been trading fire.

Israeli warplanes carried out more than 50 intensive airstrikes on military facilities, compounds and posts all over the Gaza Strip and destroyed the office of Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh and several security headquarters in the enclave.

In response, Gaza militants fired barrages of rockets into southern Israel.

Erekat held the new conference in the city of Ramallah after he held another meeting with diplomats of several European countries to urge them to support the Palestinian cause and reject the U.S. administration's decisions.