More Quotes
US President Barack Obama: “There is no country on earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its civilians from outside its borders. So we are full supportive of Israel’s right to defend itself from missiles landing on people’s homes, and work places and potentially killing civilians … We are actively working with all the parties in the region to see if we can end those missiles being fired without further escalation of violence in the region.”
(source: Sky News)
Foreign Secretary William Hague: “Hamas bears principal responsibility for the current crisis. I utterly condemn rocket attacks from Gaza into southern Israel by Hamas and other armed groups. This creates an intolerable situation for Israeli civilians in southern Israel, who have the right to live without fear of attack from Gaza. The rocket attacks also risk worsening the plight of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, which is already precarious.
“Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza should cease attacks against Israel immediately. I call on those in the region with influence over Hamas to use that influence to bring about an end to the attacks.”
(Source: the FCO website)
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “Hamas and the terror organizations decided to escalate their attacks on the citizens of Israel over the last few days. We will not accept a situation in which Israeli citizens are threatened by the terror of rockets. No country would accept this, Israel will not accept it.
Today, we hit Hamas strategic targets precisely. We have significantly debilitated their ability to launch rockets from Gaza to the center of Israel, and we are now working to disable their ability to launch rockets towards the south. The terrorist organizations – Hamas, Islamic Jihad and others – are deliberately harming our citizens, while intentionally hiding behind their citizens. On the other hand, we avoid harming civilians as much as possible and that is one fundamental difference between us. It also indicates the big difference between our objectives, and not only in our methods. They want to obliterate us from the face of the earth and they have no qualms about hurting civilians and innocents.”
(Source: Israel’s PMO)
We understand and recognise the pressure on President Abbas to turn to an UNGA resolution if there is no progress. But an effort to make that progress should be tested first. We advise against symbolic gestures, and urge all parties to keep their eyes on the prize of a negotiated end to the conflict. (Source: www.fco.gov.uk)
I am a Prime Minister who will work closely with President Obama in a renewed effort on the Middle East Peace Process and let us congratulate him on winning an historic second term. (Source: www.number10.gov.uk)
Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: “The Secretary-General reiterates his call for an immediate cessation of indiscriminate rocket attacks by Palestinian militants targeting Israel and strongly condemns these actions. He calls on Israel to exercise maximum restraint. Both sides should do everything to avoid further escalation and must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law to ensure the protection of civilians at all times.”
(source: Times of Israel)