Algeria Blasts İnternational 'Silence' On Gaza

The Algerian government has roundly condemned a fresh Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip and the international community's "silence" regarding Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, according to a Tuesday statement by Algeria's Foreign Ministry.



"These vicious strikes could not have reached this level – where Palestinians' most basic rights are violated – without the international community's silence, which has encouraged the [Israeli] occupation to keep pursuing its criminal, expansionist policies," the ministry asserted.



The ministry's statement was issued hours after Israel launched a military offensive on the besieged Gaza Strip, in which 15 Palestinians have been killed so far in a series of Israeli airstrikes.



The Foreign Ministry went on to call for international pressure to end Israeli "intransigence" vis-à-vis international law, asserting that the Algerian government would continue to call for an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.



At least 15 Palestinians were killed and 92 injured on Tuesday after the Israeli army launched a large-scale military offensive – dubbed "Operation Protective Edge" – against the Gaza Strip.



Israel said its air and naval forces had struck scores of sites across the Gaza Strip since the early hours of Tuesday, while ground troops were amassing on the strip's borders in advance of a possible ground incursion.



The Israeli army says its ongoing offensive is aimed at ending rocket fire emanating from Gaza.



By Abderrazek Ben Abdullah



englishnews@aa.com.tr



www.aa.com.tr/en - Alger