” Worry “, exhortations to restraint, call to give “A lesson to Israel” or the emphasis placed on the right of the Hebrew state to defend itself… international reactions continued to flow, Wednesday, May 12, in the face of the increasingly deadly armed confrontation between Hamas and Israel.
More than a thousand rockets fired at Israel, continuous strikes on the Gaza Strip and at least 62 dead: the armed clash between Hamas and the Hebrew state showed no sign of appeasement on Wednesday and raised fears of a “Large-scale war”, the UN envoy for the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, alerted the day before.
The European Union called for “Immediate shutdown” violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories for “Avoid a larger conflict”, in a statement by the head of European diplomacy. “The indiscriminate launching of rockets by Hamas and other groups at Israeli civilians is unacceptable. While recognizing Israel’s legitimate need to protect its civilian population, the response must be proportionate and subject to maximum restraint in the use of force ”, pleaded Josep Borrell.
“I am very worried by the recent rise in violence and indiscriminate attacks”, tweeted European Council President Charles Michel, who met with Israeli President Réouven Rivlin on Wednesday. “Priority must be given to de-escalation and the loss of innocent civilian lives on both sides must be avoided”, he added.
“I urge Israel and the Palestinians to step back from the brink and both sides to show restraint”, launched the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, who calls for a “Urgent de-escalation”.
Israel’s “right” to “defend itself”
Facing a “Dramatic escalation”, Paris considers that the United States must get involved. “It is clear that they are the ones who still have the main diplomatic levers today, even if Europe must be more present”, declared the French Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Clément Beaune.
Berlin said the ” law “ from Israel “To defend oneself against attacks” of Hamas “In the context of self-defense”. Rocket attacks against Israeli towns aim “To kill people indiscriminately and arbitrarily”, insisted the government spokesperson, Steffen Seibert.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday called for the ” de-escalation “, during a conversation with his Turkish counterpart. According to the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan “Expressed their deep concern at the continuing fighting and the increase in the number of dead and wounded”.
“Deep concern”
But, for its part, the Turkish presidency reported on the much more offensive positions of Recep Tayyip Erdogan who, in this telephone interview, “Stressed the need for the international community to teach Israel a firm and dissuasive lesson”.
“I note with deep concern the escalation of violence in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as in and around Gaza.”said Fatou Bensouda, the prosecutor general of the International Criminal Court, particularly concerned about “The possible commission of crimes under the Rome Statute”, founding text of the jurisdiction.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), for its part, condemned Tuesday “In the strongest terms the repeated attacks by the Israeli occupation authorities against the Palestinian people”the pan-Islamic body based in the Saudi city of Jeddah said in a statement Tuesday after an emergency session. The OIC also condemned “The continuation by the Israeli occupation forces of their colonial programs – construction of settlements, attempts to confiscate Palestinian property, forced eviction of Palestinians from their lands”.
OIC statement follows Saudi Arabia’s strong condemnation of Israel for what it called “The blatant attacks carried out by the Israeli occupation forces on the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa mosque”.
