ANKARA
The international community has taken a stand against Israel's military operations on Gaza, which have killed at least 166 Palestinians and wounded more than 1,120 others - mostly civilians - over the last week.
In a written statement, Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende said it is out of the question that his country could support "this excessive use of violence" in the Israeli operation on Gaza that killed 16 people on Saturday night alone.
"Israel has the right to defend itself, but the disproportionate force it uses has a deep impact on civilian people," he added. He said the civilian deaths, which included children, ripped his heart out.
Brende also urged Israel to comply with international law and take the necessary precautions before launching operations on such high civilian-populated areas.
"Murder of Palestinians must stop"
The Foreign Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zlatko Lagumdzija also demanded that the "Israeli murder of Palestinians must stop." He said that he cannot accept his country's decision to stay silent and impartial in the face of the incidents in the Middle East.
Bosnian top diplomat stressed that the United Nations, the U.S., European Union, the neighbor states of Palestine and Israel all call for a peaceful solution.
"I know Bosnia cannot end the deaths and the oppression in the Middle East on its own," he said, but added that it is our moral responsibility to voice our condemnation and to push for peace.
"As people who experienced injustice, atrocities and hardship brought by war, we morally have to call for peace at least, even if we cannot do anything else. We know what war means and what peace can bring. That's why we cannot keep silent. The killing of Palestinian people must stop," said Lagumdzija.
Israeli attacks protested around the world
On Sunday, thousands of protesters gathered in Paris and staged a rally from Barbes Square to the Place de la Republique bearing Palestinian flags, banners of condemnation against Israel and chanted slogans against the Jewish state. The protesters called upon the international community to mobilize and act together to stop the offensives against Gaza.
They also read out a joint statement signed by NGOs attending the rally - and voiced support for the Palestinian resistance, demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners and called for sanctions against Israel. They also criticized the international community's indifference towards Israeli aggression in Gaza.
In San Francisco, hundreds of people - including Palestinians and Americans with different ethnicities - gathered before city hall to protest against Israeli offensives stressing that the Jewish state targeted innocent people and children.
In the Hague, around 10 thousand people convened in the Dutch capital and staged a protest.
Sunday saw protests also in Indonesian capital Jakarta, Egyptian capital Cairo, Libyan capital Tripoli as people gathered in squares to rally against Israel and in sympathy of Gazans as targets of the recent air raids.
There were also protests all across Turkey, as several people gathered mainly in Istanbul, Erzurum, Sivas Tokat, Sanliurfa, and Diyarbakir to demonstrate against the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.
A group of people in Istanbul's Ataturk Airport carried placards condemning Israel in Russian, English, French, Arabic and Turkish.
"All must react against Israeli occupation and the blockade on Gaza. It is our plan to announce the attacks on Gaza to the blind and deaf world in five languages," said the group speaker Umut Yanlik.
Israeli warplanes have been heavily pounding the Gaza Strip over the week as part of the military offensive – dubbed "Operation Protective Edge" – allegedly in response to rocket fire from the embattled coastal enclave.
However, the Israeli Foreign Ministry claimed on Thursday that at least 681 rockets had been fired at Israel from Gaza since 7 June.
No Israeli fatalities have been reported so far.
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