Global condemnation for strike; U.S.: it was 'heavy-handed'
By Ha'aretz Service and news agencies
WASHINGTON - The Israeli strike on a Gaza City apartment block in the early hoursof Tuesday morning was greeted with howls of protest from the international community. U.S. President George W. Bush denouncing it as "heavy-handed," while UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said Israel was "legally and morally obliged" to do everything it could to avoid the loss of innocent civilians and the attack had been contrary to this obligation.
"This heavy-handed action does not contribute to peace," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Tuesday, pointing to "the loss of innocent life."
"This message will be conveyed to Israeli authorities, and the United States regrets the loss of life," the spokesman said.
Fleischer rejected comparisons between the missile strike and American attacks in Afghanistan that have killed civilians.
"It is inaccurate to compare the two, because the United States, because of an errant bomb, a mistake in a mission, has occasionally engaged in military action that we very regrettably included losses of innocent lives," Fleischer
said.
"This was a deliberate attack on the site, knowing that innocents would be lost in the consequences of the attack," he said, adding that Bush still remained a strong backer of Israel.
With his condemnation, the White House joined European and Arab nations who called the strike irresponsible and denounced the civilian deaths.
The Israeli Embassy responded to the White House criticism with a defense of the targeting of the leader of Hamas' military wing.
"Like the government of the United states, the government of Israel regrets the loss of innocent civilian lives," spokesman Mark Regev said. "However, our military action against one of the most dangerous Hamas terrorist leaders was a justified action of self-defense."
Sharon: Strike 'a great success' Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Tuesday that the IAF air strike which killed the head of the Hamas's military wing overnight Tuesday was a "great success" but expressed regret over the deaths of 14 other Palestinians in the attack, while the United Nations and European Union condemned the strike.
"We of course have no interest in striking civilians and are always sorry over civilians who were struck," Sharon told cabinet ministers at a government meeting on the economy.
"But this operation, in my view, is one of the great successes and of course demands that we will all be on full alert (against further attacks by Hamas). We cannot reach any compromise with terror, terror must be fought."
Arafat: strike 'an awful crime' Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat condemned the Israeli strike in Gaza, saying that it was a "massacre and an awful crime carried out against our innocent children."
"This massacre is unbelievable. No human being with a piece of mind, consciousness or emotions could imagine what had happened," Arafat said.
He blasted the world community "for the silence on the Israeli crimes against our people", adding, "I wonder why the world is silent. Why it does not move to stop the Israeli awful crimes against our people."
MK Ahmed Tibi said in a statement sent to news agencies that U.S. President George Bush is "morally responsible" for the air strike carried out by US-made F-16 warplane targeting a civilian building.
"When (Ariel) Sharon saw that Israelis and Palestinian have determined to achieve progress in their recent talks, Sharon felt so worried and angry, and therefore he carried out this awful crime," said Tibi.
EU strongly condemns Israeli air strike in Gaza The European Union on Tuesday strongly condemned an Israeli F-16 air attack on the home of a wanted Hamas military wing leader Salah Shehada in the Gaza Strip, branding it a setback for peace and reconciliation.
"I strongly condemn the death of innocent civilians in last night's attack against Gaza," EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said in a statement.
"This extra-judicial killing operation, which targeted a densely populated area, comes at a time when both Israelis and Palestinians were working very seriously to curb violence and restore cooperative security arrangements," Solana said.
Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, told Ritzau news agency the Israeli attack was "completely unacceptable".
Britain calls attack 'unacceptable and counterproductive' Britain condemned Tuesday as "unacceptable and counterproductive" the IDF strike on Gaza.
"We recognize and understand Israel's need to take action against suspected suicide bombers and their accomplices," the Foreign Office said in a statement.
But it added: "The action taken last night which resulted in the deaths of eight children among others in a missile attack in Gaza is unacceptable and counterproductive. We extend our sympathy to the families of the children killed."
UN blasts Israel over assassination Chief Spokesman for the United Nations Fred Eckhard said Tuesday that Israel has a legal and moral responsibility to take all measures to avoid the loss of innocent life. But, Eckhard said that Israel "clearly failed to do so in using a missile against an apartment building."
"The Secretary-General (Kofi Annan) calls on the government of Israel to halt such actions and to conduct itself in a manner that is fully consistent with international humanitarian law," Eckhard said.
Asked about the statement, Gideon Meir, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, noted that Israeli children have been killed in Palestinian attacks.
"I do expect the Secretary-General to understand that Israel's actions come out of self-defense," he said. "This was a precise Israeli air strike against a known terrorist responsible for hundreds of attacks on innocent Israelis in the past few years."
Palestinian Minister Saeb Erekat told the British Broadcasting Corporation that the attack was a "despicable" war crime that dealt a blow to peacemaking.
"In my opinion this is Sharon's effort to torpedo any effort to revive the peace process," he said, referring to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Minister criticizes Sharon for not convening cabinet before attack Minister Without Portfolio Yitzhak Levy (National Religious Party) supported the killing of Shehada, but Sharon for not convening the Cabinet prior to the decision on the assassination. "Shehada was a murderer and we should not be sorry for killing him...but I feel that the prime minister is emptying the cabinet of its content," Levy said in an interview to Army Radio Tuesday.
The cabinet was not informed of the decision to assassinate Shehada, and the decision was made by Sharon and Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer alone, Army Radio reported Tuesday.
Ben-Eliezer gave the go ahead for the operation from London, where he was staying on a five-day visit from which he returned early Tuesday morning, the radio said. Several months ago the cabinet gave Sharon a cart blanch to carry out assassinations without convening the cabinet beforehand.
Opposition Chairman and Meretz leader Yossi Sarid said that the attack came at an inappropriate time, during which there was relative calm in the territories and international efforts were being made to resume peace talks.
"Shehada should have been killed, but the timing was inappropriate, the assassination method was wrong, it was a kind of act of terror," Sarid told Army Radio Tuesday.
"In the past few days a chance for calm was apparent, hectic international efforts were made toward a cease-fire, but the government, not for the first time, appears not to be interested in quiet," Sarid said, referring to the killing of Tanzim member Raed Karmi, who was assassinated in January 2002 by Israel during a period of relative calm that ended shortly after.
Moledet MK Binyamin Elon said Tuesday that Israel should have warned Gaza residents before the large-scale attack to enable them to leave their homes. "Regrettably, this was not done and innocent people have died," Elon told Israel Radio
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
