The United States Wednesday threw its weight behind Israel after it launched a barrage of air strikes on the Gaza Strip, and condemned Palestinian militant rocket attacks on southern Israel.
“We support Israel’s right to defend itself, and we encourage Israel to continue to take every effort to avoid civilian casualties,” US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement.
“We strongly condemn the barrage of rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel, and we regret the death and injury of innocent Israeli and Palestinian civilians caused by the ensuing violence,” he added.
Israel killed a top Hamas military commander in a targeted air strike in Gaza on Wednesday, and warned that it was only the start of an operation targeting militant groups in Gaza,
It also unleashed more than 20 air strikes in Gaza, prompting outrage from Palestinian militants who said the Jewish state had opened “the gates of hell.”
The air strikes capped five days of rising tension in and around Gaza, which saw Israel kill seven Palestinians and militants fire more than 120 rockets over the border, injuring eight people.
“There is no justification for the violence that Hamas and other terrorist organizations are employing against the people of Israel,” Toner said in his statement, calling on them “to stop these cowardly acts immediately.”
“Hamas claims to have the best interests of the Palestinian people at heart, yet it continues to engage in violence that is counterproductive to the Palestinian cause,” he added.
“Attacking Israel on a near daily basis does nothing to help Palestinians in Gaza or to move the Palestinian people any closer to achieving self determination.”
The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, said nine people had been killed in the air strikes on the Gaza Strip, and added the toll would likely rise.
Palestinian sources in Gaza said seven had been killed, including Hamas military commander Ahmed Jaabari.
Israel has right to defend itself, must spare civilians: US
