Ramallah, Ramadan 16, 1435, Jul 13, 2014, SPA -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is writing an appeal to the UN for international protection following Israel's Gaza offensive, dpa cited his office as saying. A decision to write to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was made by the Palestinian leadership, which includes members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee and the central committee of Abbas' Fatah party. Israel "must stop its aggression against the Palestinian people," Abbas says. They will also approach the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in August and ask it to designate Israel as an "apartheid state," as well as ask for an emergency meeting of the UN Human Rights Council. --SPA 17:52 LOCAL TIME 14:52 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w