From Muntaser Dkaidek

Association of Sport in Palestine, Palsport News Agency

JERUSALEM,  January 9, 2009 - The Palestinian Olympic Committee (POC) has called on the international sporting family to put pressure on Israel to stop the attacks in Gaza.

Following an strike by Israeli aircraft on the headquarters of the POC on December 28, 2008 in which a number of people were killed and others injured, the head of the Palestinian Olympic Committee,  Major-General Jibril Rajoub, and the members of the Executive Office have called upon the International Olympic Committee and the world's football governing body FIFA to act.

"We call upon the international community and the International Olympic Committee and FIFA, and all stakeholders to provide protection for all institutions and sports facilities in Palestine and call on the  international community to rapidly intervene and stop the aggression against the Palestinian people and ensure the protection of the innocent," Major-General Jibril Rajoub said in an official statement.

The Palestinian Olympic Committe has previously contributed to sports in the International Olympic Committee and Palestinian athletes have competed at Olympic Games,most recently in Beijing.

At this stage it is not possible to give any final figures of the dead and wounded in the attack on the POC building, or whether any local athletes were among the victims in the destruction of the headquarters.