RAMALLAH/AL QUDS, Sept 7: Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is to give a major policy speech when he swears in a new Palestinian cabinet on Monday, Palestinian Legislative Council head Ahmed Qrei said Saturday.

Qrei, quoted by the al-Quds daily, called on Israel to allow all democratically-elected Palestinian representatives to attend the parliamentary meeting and participate in the discussions on reforms and the democratic process.

The remarks were published as more than 70 Israeli tanks reoccupied most of the central Gaza Strip city of Dir al-Balah.

Arafat aide Nabil Abu Rudeineh called on the US, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations to help fight against the “tyranny and unjustice” of the Israeli occupation.

Rudeineh also accused Israel of continuing to confiscate Palestinian land for the construction of a security fence, thereby destroying the agriculture that Palestinians were relying on.—dpa