Dhaka  - The government of Muslim-dominated Bangladesh Sunday expressed deep concern over the deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip following Israeli air raids over the weekend that reportedly

Beirut  - Outrage against Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip led to violent demonstrations and political denunciations in Lebanon on Sunday.

Lebanese anti-riot police used force to disperse a demonstration in front of the Egyptian embassy in Beirut, firing tear gas and using water after protesters got close to a barbed wire barricade and started throwing stones at police officers.

The protesters, who numbered in the hundreds, were mostly from the Sunni groupings in Lebanon and Hamas.

Before the confrontation, men riding motorbikes and carrying black flags, wearing the traditional Palestinian headdress had chanted "God help our people in Gaza," were among the protesters.

Amman - Thousands of Jordanians demonstrated outside the Egyptian embassy in Cairo Sunday to press Egyptian authorities to re- open the Rafah crossing point with the Gaza Strip.

"Our sit-in before the Egyptian embassy today has the primary aim of telling the Egyptian regime ... that the Rafah crossing point should be re-opened," said Zaki Bani Ershaid, secretary general of the Islamic Action Front (IAF).

Other demonstrators urged the governments of Egypt and Jordan, the only two Arab countries to have concluded peace treaties with Israel, to "sever ties" with the Jewish state.

Sana'a, Yemen  - Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the Yemeni capital Sana'a and several other main cities on Sunday to protest against the Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip.

The largest gathering was in Sana'a, where around 80,000 people rallied in the city's main football stadium, police officials said.

Thousands of protesters also took part in anti-Israeli demonstrations in the cities of Aden, Dhalea, Taiz, Houdieda, Dhamar, Abyan and Lahj, they said.

In Sana'a, protesters held up pictures of the leaders of Hamas movement and the Palestinian flag alongside with banners denouncing the Israeli attacks.

Amman  - Thousands of people participated in rallies across the Middle East Sunday to protest Israel's airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and to show support for Palestinians caught in the attacks.

Some of the larger protests were in the capitals of Yemen and Jordan. Hundreds of protesters also clashed with policemen in Lebanon while smaller demonstrations were staged in Iran.

Arab League leaders have agreed to meet Wednesday to discuss a reaction to the Israeli airstrikes, which were prompted by missile and mortar attacks out of the Gaza Strip after a ceasefire expired on December 19.

Since the Israeli attacks started Saturday, 283 Palestinians, many of them militants, are reported dead. More than 900 have reportedly been wounded.

Geneva  - The United Nations top human rights expert said Sunday that she was concerned and distressed by "the enormous loss of life in the escalating violence in Gaza."

Navi Pillay, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement that she "strongly condemned Israel's disproportionate use of force" in the enclave, which has so far resulted in more than 280 dead, and called for respecting international law.

Many of those killed were civilians, Pillay said.

She also condemned Hamas rocket fire which killed one Israeli civilian.

More than 100 rockets have been fired from Gaza since the Israeli military began its offensive on Saturday.