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The international community intensified its condemnation of Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip on Monday after a strike close to a UN school harboring civilians killed 10 people and sparked worldwide outrage. As the Israeli military operation entered day 28 on Monday, the international community seems to be losing patience with Israel. Over 1,800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza so far due to Israeli aggression.
France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius issued a strong condemnation against Israel. His comments have prompted praise from some for finally taking a tougher stance on Israel.
“How many more deaths will it take to stop… the carnage in Gaza?Israel’s right to security is total, but this right does not justify the killing of children and the slaughter of civilians.A political solution is essential… and should in my opinion be imposed by the international community”, he said in a statement.
The Spanish Foreign Ministry also criticized the strike, saying, “Spain reiterates its urgent call for strict respect of International Humanitarian Law and in particular the obligation to avoid hurting the civilian population as well as to respect the inviolability of U.N. sites.Israel’s armed forces should intensify their efforts to avoid the loss of innocent lives”.
The UN had condemned the strike on the school, with UN head Ban Ki-moon calling it “a moral outrage and a criminal act”. US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that the United States was “appalled” by the strike and demanded a “full and prompt” investigation.
British Prime Minister David Cameroon declined to say if the strike was a breach of international law, but said that the UN was “right” to condemn it.
“The U.N. has spoken very clearly and I think they’re right to speak very clearly.International law is clear that it’s completely wrong and illegal to target civilians, if that’s what’s happened”, the British premier told BBC.
The Israeli army also acknowledged the strike, and said that it was targeting three militants on a motorcycle in the “vicinity of an UNRWA school” and said that it was investigating the incident. On Monday, Israel had declared a unilateral seven-hour truce, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his forces did not intentionally strike civilians and apologized for harm done to them.
