Western leaders admonished Israel to end attacks and exercise
restraint after Israel conducted airstrikes in the Gaza Strip Saturday
- a move that sparked protests across the Arab world.
At least 200 people were killed as Israeli forces staged the
airstrikes in response to missile and mortar barrages out of the Gaza
Strip. Those attacks had resumed after a ceasefire lapsed December 19.
While fury was expressed across the Arab world, leaders elsewhere
called on Israel to rein in or cease its military operations.
White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe issuing a call for Israel to
avoid civilian deaths. The European Union criticized Israel for using
disproportionate force and called for an immediate end to hostilities.
The EU also called upon Israel to reopen borders into the Gaza
Strip to fuel and food shipments, which have been disrupted since an
economic and military blockade began in 2007.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko called on
Israel to end its 'combat activities which have already led to great
loss and suffering among the peaceful Palestinian population.'
Hamas, the organization which has de facto political control of the
Gaza Strip, also was faced with criticism from several corners, with
both the United States and Russia calling for it to put an end to the
missile attacks on Israel.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for an end to the
'unjustifiable provocation' out of the Gaza Strip, a call echoed by
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Sarkozy further noted that there is no military solution to the
problems between Israel and Hamas. Nesterenko took a similar tack,
urging both sides to the negotiating table. An international
conference on the region is planned to go ahead in Moscow in 2009.
Similar calls for meetings, but with a different focus, came from
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who called for an emergency Arab
summit to discuss the crisis.
According to the state news agency, Saleh said the summit would
discuss the 'barbaric aggression, massacres and genocide war committed
by the Israeli occupation forces in Gaza.'
The Israeli actions were roundly condemned in the Arab world.
'Egypt condemns the Israeli military aggression on the Gaza Strip
and blames Israel, as an occupying force, for the victims and the
wounded,' an Egyptian presidential statement read. President Hosny
Mubarak also made provisions for Egyptian hospitals to offer medical
treatment to Gaza Strip residents caught in the bombardment.
Egypt had brokered the previous ceasefire between Hamas and Israel
and had been seeking its renewal.
In Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that
the Israeli airstrikes were 'primarily a strike against peace.'
Erdogan said that he had cancelled a scheduled telephone
conversation with Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, on
account of the airstrikes.
In Iran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi said, in a
statement carried by the ISNA news agency: 'This savage and inhuman
act by the Zionist regime (Israel) just adds another chapter to its
dark criminal and terrorist record and is the result of the painful
silence by relevant international organizations.'
Hundreds of Jordanian trade unionists and opposition party members
protested the Israeli airstrike. In Lebanon, supporters gathered to
show support for Hamas.
'The people of Gaza are not alone ... the coming days will show you
this,' said Hezbollah politburo member Sheikh Hashem Saffieddine.
Additionally, more than 5,000 Palestinian refugees from the Jarmuk
refugee camp in the south of the Syrian capital Damascus also
protested the attacks. Protesters also vented their rage at Egypt,
saying the airstrikes had been planned there.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni visited Egypt three days
before the airstrikes.
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