EU, China Urge Israel, Hamas to Stop Fighting, UK Says Situation 'Intolerable'
The European Union on Sunday urged Israel's military and the Palestinian group Hamas to "immediately stop" their hostilities over Gaza, and condemned the large loss of life in the conflict, as Britain said the situation in the war-battered enclave is “intolerable.”
"The bloodshed needs to stop," said a statement signed by the EU and European Commission presidents on behalf of the bloc's 28 member states.
"We deplore the terrible loss of lives, including innocent women and children," it said, condemning the "intolerable violence" being suffered by Gaza residents under Israeli bombardment.
The EU statement also called the continued rocket fire by Hamas over Israel "an unacceptable threat" to Israeli citizens.
But it noted that "legitimate defense needs to maintain proportionality".
The death toll from Israel's three-week military campaign on Gaza has reached 1,766 according to medics. The United Nations says more than 80 percent of that number were civilians, including 329 children.
On the other side, 66 Israelis have been killed, including 64 soldiers, most of whom died in fighting in southern Gaza.
The EU statement said that, based on past cycles of violence, "we know that there are limits regarding what military operations can achieve."
It called for a negotiated solution that would result in two peaceful states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side, and said the EU was "ready to support actively negotiations."
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Israel and Hamas on Sunday to stop fighting and urged Tel Aviv to lift its blockade of Gaza.
Wang made his comments at a press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukri, whose government is hosting a Palestinian delegation for ceasefire talks snubbed by Israel.
"Both sides, the Israeli and the Palestinian, should immediately and comprehensively cease fire, including air strikes, ground operations and rocket fire to save the people and peace in the region," said Wang, whose comments were translated into Arabic.
"All actions that involve excessive use of force and that lead to civilian casualties are unacceptable."
Wang also said Israel "should lift its blockade on Gaza, release Palestinian prisoners (but) at the same time Israel's security concerns must be considered."
China will provide $ 1.5 million in urgent humanitarian aid to war-battered Gaza, he added.
A Palestinian delegation of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Palestinian Authority was in Cairo for talks, although Israel said it will not send anyone to the negotiations.
Cairo, the traditional broker in conflicts between Israel and Hamas, invited Israeli and Palestinian negotiators to thrash out a durable truce in Gaza based on an Egyptian ceasefire proposal.
Wang said Beijing backs Cairo's ceasefire proposal and efforts undertaken by other countries to end the fighting in Gaza.
Beijing wanted both Israel and Hamas to "abort the use of force and work on reaching a solution that leads to mutual security through responsible negotiations and suitable mechanisms."
Shoukri said Cairo was trying to reach a solution which "addresses the roots of the conflict, through establishing a state for the Palestinian people."
Earlier on Sunday, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond demanded an unconditional ceasefire to resolve the "intolerable" situation in Gaza, adding that the British public was "deeply disturbed" by what it was seeing.
Hammond, who took over from William Hague last month, told the Sunday Telegraph that the killing had to stop, having already said he was "gravely concerned" by the number of civilian casualties from Israel's military operation in Gaza.
"The British public has a strong sense that the situation of the civilian population in Gaza is intolerable and must be addressed -— and we agree with them," he told the newspaper.
"It's a broad swathe of British public opinion that feels deeply disturbed by what it is seeing on its television screens," he added.
The former defense minister acknowledged the concerns of both Hamas and Israel, but insisted that they could not be allowed to stand in the way of a humanitarian ceasefire.
"We have to get the killing to stop," he told the paper.
In a later statement, Hammond said he had spoken to Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni by phone and commented on the shelling of a U.N. school where Palestinians were sheltering that killed 10 people.
"I am appalled at reports of further civilian casualties in the vicinity of a U.N.-run school housing Palestinians displaced by the Gaza conflict in Rafah this morning," Hammond said.
"The facts are not yet clear, but it is tragic that there are further losses of life in a place which is being used as a shelter."
He also welcomed signs that Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza.
An Israeli army spokesman on Sunday told Agence France-Presse that it had begun withdrawing some ground troops from the Gaza Strip and redeploying others, but operations against Hamas would continue.
His remarks came a day after the Israeli army gave a first indication it was ending parts of the operation, which has so far claimed more than 1,700 lives.
The office of British Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday accused opposition Labor Party leader Ed Miliband of "playing politics" after he criticized Cameron's "silence" over Israel's actions.
Source: Agence France Presse
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