Kuwait Times

Published Date: December 28, 2008

KUWAIT: National Assembly Speaker Jassem Mohammad Al-Kharafi yesterday strongly condemned Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip. In a statement to KUNA, Al-Kharafi said that this aggression represented genocide against unarmed and besieged people, which was a "loud" violation of international laws and UN resolutions and a breaching of all human values, especially as the attacks came during religious occasions of both Muslims and Christians.

Israel should be coerced to shoulder full responsibility for the attacks, as it was also responsible for the collapse of peace negotiations in the region in bold defiance of the Arab world and international community, Al-Kharafi pointed out. Al-Kharafi also criticized the official Arab stance regarding the attacks, describing it of being "weak and paralyzed" and urged Arab countries to adopt a more firm stance regarding the issue.

Meanwhile, Head of the Foreign Relations Committee at the parliament MP Mohammad Al-Saqer termed the Israeli aggression as "barbaric and a war crime", noting that such acts were always what marked the Jewish state since its proclamation half a century ago. Al-Saqer, in a press release, urged all Arab and international organizations, as well as decision-making capitals, to swiftly take action to halt the aggression and provide aid to the Palestinian people.

MP Al-Saqer also anticipated that Kuwait's humanitarian as well as its diplomatic endeavors to halt the attacks would be as effective as they always were. He also lauded calls voiced by Palestinian factions to put an end to infighting and unite against the Israeli attacks. Al-Saqer noted that the committee's session today would address the aggression.

Separately, world powers called for an immediate end to violence. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the European Union and Russia urged both sides to stop the violence, as Israel's strongest ally the United States said the Jewish state should avoid civilian casualties. More than 200 Palestinians have been killed, according to the head of Gaza emergency services.

In the Middle East, the Arab League singled out Israel for blame, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference accused it of a "war crime" for not protecting the lives of civilians. Middle East envoy Tony Blair deplored the "tragic of loss of life", and called for an end to rocket attacks from Gaza and Israel's air strikes. The former British premier also urged a "new strategy for Gaza, which brings that territory back under the legitimate rule of the Palestinian Authority in a manner which ends their su
ffering and fully protects the security of Israel.

The French EU presidency expressed "greatest concern at the escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip and deplores the very large number of civilian victims". In Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he "strongly condemns the irresponsible provocations which led to this situation as well as the disproportionate use of force." A spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana earlier Saturday said "everything must be done to reinstate the truce" declared by the Palestinian Hamas movement controlli
ng Gaza, which expired on December 19.

The EU also called for all crossing points out of Gaza to be reopened and deliveries of aid and fuel to be resumed, as well as free access for international humanitarian groups, journalists and diplomats, which Israel has blocked. Ban expressed his alarm at the "bloodshed" and reiterated "previous calls for humanitarian supplies to be allowed into Gaza to aid the distressed civilian population". Hamas yesterday said it had retaliated with more rockets which Israeli medics said killed at least one person in
the southern town of Netivot.

Russia's foreign ministry called on Israel "to halt immediately the large-scale acts of force against the Gaza Strip" and said that the most important priority was for the parties to restore a truce. "The United States urges Israel to avoid civilian casualties as it targets Hamas in Gaza," US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in Waco, Texas, as US President George W Bush closed out 2008 on his ranch. "Hamas must end its terrorist activities if it wishes to play a role in the future o
f the Palestinian people," Johndroe said.

A similar message came from German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier who told Hamas to "immediately and definitively end its unacceptable rocket attacks against Israel". He urged the Jewish state "to do everything to avoid civilian casualties," according to an interview in the Sunday newspaper Bild am Sonntag. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was "deeply concerned" about the situation in Gaza, adding he understood "the Israel government's sense of obligation to its population.

In the region, Amr Mussa, secretary general of the Cairo-based Arab League, called for an emergency meeting on Sunday of foreign ministers of Arab countries. He asked Libya, currently a member of the UN Security Council, to organise an emergency meeting about the Israeli raids. An official in Tripoli said Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi had contacted Arab leaders to seek a "firm and serious position after the butchery which took place today in Gaza.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in a statement that "Egypt condemns the Israeli military aggression on the Gaza Strip and blames Israel, as an occupying force, for the victims and the wounded". He ordered the Rafah crossing point between Egypt and Gaza to be opened for wounded Palestinians to be evacuated "so they can receive the necessary treatment in Egyptian hospitals.

In Amman the royal palace said King Abdullah of Jordan had been in touch with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and with Mubarak to "launch an Arab and international initiative aimed at ending the Israeli aggression".

From Turkey, a Muslim country that has been an ally of Israel in the region, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Israeli military operation was a mark of "disrespect" for Ankara's efforts to negotiate peace for Israel with its longtime foe Syria. "I consider the action taken by Israel, while we are making so many efforts for peace, as delivering a blow to those peace initiatives," said Erdogan, according to the Anatolia news agency. Syria in turn condemned "the barbaric Israeli aggression against
the Palestinian people in Gaza," the foreign ministry said. - Agencies