Arab foreign ministers kicked off an emergency meeting on Friday, with the situation in theGaza Strip under unprecedented Israeli attacks topping the agenda.

The foreign ministers are also expected to study the agenda of the upcoming Arab economic, development and social summit scheduled for January 19-20 in the Kuwaiti capital.

The emergency meeting in Kuwait, the second one in half a month, was called upon by Qatar to address the Gaza offensive which Israel said was aimed at retaliating rocket attacks by the Islamist militant group Hamas which has been ruling the impoverished coastal enclave since June 2007.

On Monday, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said the Kuwait meeting will examine the developments related to Israel's refusal to abide by UN Security Council Resolution 1860 calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

The first emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers on Gaza was held in Cairo on December 31, four days after Israel launched the military operation, which has so far killed over 1,077 Palestinians and wounded 5,000 others.

(Xinhua News Agency January 16, 2009)