The Cairo-based Arab League (AL) condemned Saturday Israeli actions in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip where six Palestinians were killed earlier in the day.

"Today's massacres in Nablus and Gaza are only the continuation of Israel's long criminal history which is replete with human rights violations," AL Assistant Secretary General Mohamed Sobeih said in a statement carried by Egypt's MENA news agency.

The pan-Arab bloc also called for collective legal actions against the Jewish country.

"The international community is required to support Arab League and Palestinian National Authority efforts to hold a meeting in Geneva to discuss Israel's violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention," added Sobeih.

The Fourth Geneva Convention, for the protection of civilians in time of war, is one of the four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. It was adopted in 1949.

On Saturday predawn, an Israeli warplane fired one missile at four Palestinians who were trying to infiltrate into Israel through the security fence between northern Gaza Strip and Israel. Three were killed and one survived, according to an Israeli army spokesman and Palestinian witnesses.

In a separate incident earlier on Saturday, the Israeli troops invaded the northern West Bank city of Nablus and killed three activists affiliated to Fatah's armed wing al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

The current Israeli military escalation against the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza coincides with the one year anniversary of the 22-day Israeli military offensive on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, which started in late December last year and left some 1,400 Palestinians killed.

(Xinhua News Agency December 27, 2009)