Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - As Operation Protective Edge entered its second day, neighbouring countries and foreign leaders reacted to the Israeli air strikes and rockets launched from Gaza in violence that has killed 35 Palestinians and injured more than 230 others.
Jordan: Jordan, one of just two Arab countries to have signed a peace treaty with Israel, demanded that Israel immediately halt deadly Israeli air raids against the Gaza Strip.
Government spokesman Mohammad Momani said Israeli raids are "barbaric" and have “negative repercussions on the Gaza Strip and the whole region.”
"Jordan demands Israel stop all forms of escalation. The international community should actively intervene to stop the Israeli aggression," Momani said on Tuesday.
Egypt: Egypt, which has reportedly been in contact with Hamas in an attempt to set up a ceasefire agreement between Gaza and Israel, denounced Israel’s raids on Gaza.
“Egypt totally rejects and condemns all violence that results in the killing of civilians from both sides,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Badr Abdel Aty said in a statement post on Egypt’s State Information Service website.
Despite its denunciation of the Israeli operation, Egypt kept the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt closed for the sixth day in a row on Tuesday, Mada Masr website reported
White House: While urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stay in contact with Palestinians to resolve the ongoing conflict, the White House reiterated its support for the Israeli Defense Forces and Israel’s right to defend itself.
"We strongly condemn the continuing rocket fire into Israel and the deliberate targeting of civilians by terrorist organizations in Gaza," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Tuesday. "No country can accept rocket fire aimed at civilians, and we support Israel's right to defend itself against these vicious attacks.”
US State Department: In a slightly different tack from The White House, US Secretary of State John Kerry called on both Israel and Palestinians "to exercise restraint and avoid steps that could further destabilize the situation", State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday.
The State Department, like the White House, said it supported Israel’s right to defend itself against the attacks and condemned the continuing rocket fire shot into Israel, but did not label those shooting the rockets as terrorists.
European Union: While the EU, like the US, condemned “indiscriminate” rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into Israel, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton’s statement also focused on the growing number of civilian casualties caused by Israeli retaliatory fire and called on all sides to exercise restraint to re-establish calm.
“The safety and security of all civilians must be of paramount importance,” Ashton’s statement said.
In a visit to Ashkelon in southern Israel on Tuesday, however, EU Ambassador to Israel Lars Andersen went a bit further saying he expressed “unreserved solidarity” with Israelis living there.
"Indiscriminate shooting of rockets against innocent civilians can never be a legitimate response," he said.
UK: British Foreign Secretary William Hague added his condemnation of the rockets fired from Gaza on Tuesday and called on “Hamas and other militant groups to stop these attacks.”
All sides have a responsibility to respect the November 2012 ceasefire and “address the underlying causes of conflict and instability in Gaza,” Hague said. “The people of Israel have the right to live without constant fear for their security; the people of Gaza also have the right to live in peace.”
The Arab League: Secretary General of the Arab League Nabil al-Arabi called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday over the “danger Israeli escalation” in Gaza.
Arabi told reporters that he was in touch with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas as the events unfolded and said Israel’s attacks on Palestinian civilians is “a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, the Geneva Convention and international resolutions on occupied Palestine.”
United Nations: On Tuesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned rocket attacks from Gaza and called on both sides of the conflict to halt aggressions.
Ban also reiterated “his call on all actors to exercise maximum restraint and avoid further civilian casualties and overall destabilization,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Iran: Iran strongly condemned Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip, saying the “savage” operation showed that the Israeli government is “destitute” in the face of “the heroic people of Palestine,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Marziyeh Afkham said.
Afkham said Operation Protective Edge had started on “the false pretext of the abduction of three Israeli settlers” and likened the country’s air strikes to “crimes committed by the terrorist in Syria and Iraq.”
She hailed the resistance of Gazans and called on Muslim and Arab countries, as well as human rights bodies, to support the Palestinian decision to prosecute Israel for its crimes in the International Criminal Court.
Turkey: The Turkish Foreign Ministry called for an end to the Israeli military operation on Gaza and urged the United Nations to take action.
“The military operation that Israel has launched against Gaza will result in extending the pain that the oppressed Gaza people, who have been struggling to continue their lives under difficult conditions for years,” a statement released Tuesday said.
*Middle Easteye
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