Norway denounces Israeli airstrikes on Gaza

ISTANBUL

The Norwegian prime minister on Tuesday denounced the recent Israeli airstrikes on Gaza that killed hundreds of Palestinians, including children and women.

“For the people in Gaza, this is a great tragedy. They are almost without protection. Many of them live in tents and the ruins of what has been destroyed,” the Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told public broadcaster NRK.

Store urged the international community to call for an end to bombing of areas with unprotected people.

“There is reason to believe that Israel has the green light, and they also have weapons to do this, and they also have airpower,” Store added, underlining that attacks further reduce the chances of Israel and Hamas swiftly reaching an agreement on the ceasefire.

Meanwhile, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said: “This is a nightmare. Both for the hard-pressed Palestinian civilian population, who need peace, and for the Israeli hostages and their families, who have hoped that they can return home.”

Eide called for an immediate stop in fighting for the resumption of the ceasefire negotiations.

Local authorities in Gaza have been reporting almost daily violations by the Israeli army in recent weeks despite a ceasefire with the Palestinian group Hamas that took effect on Jan. 19.

The Israeli army said early Tuesday that it carried out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, marking the largest assault since the ceasefire.

Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that 326 bodies have been transferred to hospitals so far, along with 440 injured people following the Monday night attacks.

Israel’s brutal war on Gaza, which began in October 2023, has killed more than 48,500 Palestinians, most of them women and children, leaving Gaza in ruins.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.