Venezuela expels Israeli ambassador over Gaza (Roundup)

Jan 6, 2009, 23:32 GMT

Caracas - Venezuela ordered the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador on Tuesday to protest Israel's ongoing military operation in the Gaza Strip.

'At this tragic and outrageous hour, the people of Venezuela express their unrestricted solidarity with the heroic Palestinian people ... and lends a hand to them by saying that the Venezuelan government will not rest until it sees severe punishment for those responsible for these atrocious crimes,' the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Venezuela described the Israeli offensive as 'state terrorism' and 'glaring violations of international law,' and ordered Ambassador Shlomo Cohen and some of the remaining Israeli diplomatic personnel to leave the country.

Caracas made a similar move two years ago, protesting an Israeli military operation in Lebanon that was aimed at Hezbollah.

Earlier Tuesday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called the Israeli Army 'cowardly' for its offensive in the Gaza Strip, and said the people of Israel should protest the operation that has killed more than 580 people.

'How cowardly is the Israeli Army. They attack a people that is exhausted, asleep, innocent, and they boast that they are defending their people,' Chavez told reporters. 'I call upon the people of Israel to rise against that government.'

He said that presidents Shimon Peres of Israel and George W Bush of the United States should be tried for 'genocide' at the International Court of Justice.

During a visit to a children's hospital in Caracas, Chavez said the international community must put a stop to the 'madness' in Gaza, adding that his government was working to get humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people.

Chavez said that, while his government respected Israelis living in Venezuela, he wished that 'the Jewish Venezuelan community spoke against this barbarity.'

'They accuse (Iranian President) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of being responsible for genocide but there is not one piece of evidence, he has invaded no one. Venezuela has not invaded anyone either. They accuse (traditional Cuban leader) Fidel Castro of being a tyrant and a murderer,' Chavez said of several of his allies.

He complained that no such accusations were being made against Israel's Peres. 'How cynical the world is,' Chavez said.