Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah called the offensive in Gaza a "war crime" and "state sponsored terrorism" on Friday, breaking his silence after over three weeks of violence in between Israel and Hamas.
“We see the blood of our brothers in Palestine shed in collective massacres that did not exclude anyone, and war crimes against humanity without scruples, humanity or morality,” Abdullah said on state television.
“This [international] community, which has observed silently what is happening in the whole region, has been indifferent to what is happening, as if what is happening is not its concern. Silence that has no justification."
See here and here.
Chile, El Salvador and Peru followed Brazil and Ecuador on Wednesday by recalling their ambassadors from Israel, protesting against Israel's offensive.
Violence escalated on Saturday as Israel launched a hunt for a missing soldier, that it alleges was captured alive by Hamas during the humanitarian cease that broke down on Friday.
A Hamas official initially appeared to claim responsibility for the capture. However in a statement published on Saturday morning, Hamas' military wing said it had "no information on this soldier", suggesting he had been killed during the fighting.
"We believe they were all killed in the [Israeli] bombardment. Assuming that they managed to seize the soldier during combat, we assess that he was also killed in the incident," the statement read.
See more here.
British MPs call for rethink on policy towards Israel
Responding to the increasing civilian death toll and shelling of a UN school as well as a hospital in Gaza, both the Conservative and Labour party leaders came under pressure from their own MPs to exert pressure on Israel to stop its offensive.
Describing Israel's actions in Gaza as "wholly disproportionate", the Conservative MP Margot James called on the British prime minister and Conservative leader, David Cameron, to "rethink" the government's policy on Israel.
In a letter to the UK Foreign Secretary she said:
The UK's shadow foreign secretary, Douglas Alexander, said:
Pro-Palestinian protests continue worldwide
The soaring death toll in Gaza continues to spark protests in the West Bank.
On Friday, two Palestinian protesters were killed as IDF soldiers opened fire at a protest in the city of Tulkaren in the West Bank, the Jerusalem Post reported. See here.
In Hebron, hundreds marched, expressing support for Hamas. Similar protests took place in Bethlehem.
Pro-Palestinian protesters also took the streets in cities worldwide on Friday including New York, London, Toronto, Berlin, Athens and the Jordanian capital of Amman, condemning what they described as Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
Amnesty International urges US to stop arms to Israel
The rights group Amnesty International called on the United States government to stop its supply of arms to Israel amid the escalating civilian deaths.
“The US government is adding fuel to the fire by continuing its supply of the type of arms being used by Israel’s armed forces to violate human rights. The US government must accept that by repeatedly shipping and paying for such arms on this scale they are exacerbating and further enabling grave abuses to be committed against civilians during the conflict in Gaza,” said Brian Wood, Head of Arms Control and Human Rights at Amnesty International said on Thursday.
“We see the blood of our brothers in Palestine shed in collective massacres that did not exclude anyone, and war crimes against humanity without scruples, humanity or morality,” Abdullah said on state television.
“This [international] community, which has observed silently what is happening in the whole region, has been indifferent to what is happening, as if what is happening is not its concern. Silence that has no justification."
See here and here.
Chile, El Salvador and Peru followed Brazil and Ecuador on Wednesday by recalling their ambassadors from Israel, protesting against Israel's offensive.
Violence escalated on Saturday as Israel launched a hunt for a missing soldier, that it alleges was captured alive by Hamas during the humanitarian cease that broke down on Friday.
A Hamas official initially appeared to claim responsibility for the capture. However in a statement published on Saturday morning, Hamas' military wing said it had "no information on this soldier", suggesting he had been killed during the fighting.
"We believe they were all killed in the [Israeli] bombardment. Assuming that they managed to seize the soldier during combat, we assess that he was also killed in the incident," the statement read.
See more here.
British MPs call for rethink on policy towards Israel
Responding to the increasing civilian death toll and shelling of a UN school as well as a hospital in Gaza, both the Conservative and Labour party leaders came under pressure from their own MPs to exert pressure on Israel to stop its offensive.
Describing Israel's actions in Gaza as "wholly disproportionate", the Conservative MP Margot James called on the British prime minister and Conservative leader, David Cameron, to "rethink" the government's policy on Israel.
In a letter to the UK Foreign Secretary she said:
"My constituents, not all of them Muslim, regard the Israeli action as wholly disproportionate to the threat posed by Hamas.See more here and here.
"I ask that the government rethinks policy towards the conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
"The scale of suffering in Gaza is far too great, the loss of life, and particularly the lives of children and other vulnerable individuals, cannot be justified on the grounds of defence in proportion to the level of threat faced by Israel from Hamas.
"I also think that we should make it clear that it is unacceptable for Israel to just dismiss US proposals for peace without any debate whatsoever."
The UK's shadow foreign secretary, Douglas Alexander, said:
"The growing number of Palestinian civilians being killed is rightly provoking international outrage, and the continuing incursion into Gaza risks further international isolation for Israel and further international condemnation of its actions."The increasing criticism from cross-party UK ministers comes as the US government condemned the shelling of a UN shelter in Gaza as "totally unacceptable and totally indefensible".
Pro-Palestinian protests continue worldwide
The soaring death toll in Gaza continues to spark protests in the West Bank.
On Friday, two Palestinian protesters were killed as IDF soldiers opened fire at a protest in the city of Tulkaren in the West Bank, the Jerusalem Post reported. See here.
In Hebron, hundreds marched, expressing support for Hamas. Similar protests took place in Bethlehem.
Pro-Palestinian protesters also took the streets in cities worldwide on Friday including New York, London, Toronto, Berlin, Athens and the Jordanian capital of Amman, condemning what they described as Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
Amnesty International urges US to stop arms to Israel
The rights group Amnesty International called on the United States government to stop its supply of arms to Israel amid the escalating civilian deaths.
“The US government is adding fuel to the fire by continuing its supply of the type of arms being used by Israel’s armed forces to violate human rights. The US government must accept that by repeatedly shipping and paying for such arms on this scale they are exacerbating and further enabling grave abuses to be committed against civilians during the conflict in Gaza,” said Brian Wood, Head of Arms Control and Human Rights at Amnesty International said on Thursday.