OIC chief calls for Israeli crimes court

The head of the Islamic Conference says Israelis should be tried by an international war court for heinous attacks against Palestinians.

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu the Turkish secretary-general of the 57-nation body told the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit in Senegal that Israel was repeatedly seeking to undermine foreign-brokered peace plans.

"The situation in Palestine remains deplorable due to the successive crises fabricated by Israel to stall the peace process and to thwart the many peace plans and initiatives proposed by the international community," he said.

"It has become indispensable that these aggressions and heinous crimes be officially documented and their perpetrators be brought before international justice designed for these kind of acts ... such as the International Criminal Court."

Israel's five-day offensive in Gaza last week killed more than 125 Palestinians.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas earlier accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing" in al-Quds by banning the building of Palestinian homes and cutting the city off from the rest of the occupied West Bank.