US President Barack Obama reaffirmed his ‘’strong support for Israel’s right to defend itself.’’
“No nation should accept rockets being fired into its borders, or terrorists tunneling into its territory,” he said Friday at a White House press briefing, after speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu earlier in the day.
Obama pointed out that while he was speaking to the Prime Minister, “sirens went off in Tel Aviv.”
“I also made clear that the United States, and our friends and allies, are deeply concerned about the risks of further escalation and the loss of more innocent life,” Obama said.
“Although we support military efforts by the Israelis to make sure that rockets are not being fired into their territory, we also have said that our understanding is the current military ground operations are designed to deal with the tunnels, and we are hopeful that Israel will continue to approach this process in a way that minimizes civilian casualties and that all of us are working hard to return to the ceasefire that was reached in November of 2012.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, meanwhile, issued a statement on Friday saying Israel has the “right to defend itself,” and that this must be done in a “reasonable manner.”
France, whose Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius arrived in Israel Saturday evening and met with Netanyahu, issued a statement saying it was “very concerned” by Israel’s decision to launch a ground offensive, and called on Israel to act with “maximum restraint.”
On Friday the EU issued a statement saying that it was “very concerned about the escalation in the Gaza Strip, including the resumption of rocket fire into Israel and the Israeli ground operation.”
The statement said there have already been “too many civilian deaths, including many children such as those killed on a beach in Gaza. We strongly deplore such incidents and we call for them to be investigated swiftly. We condemn the continued firing of rockets from Gaza into Israel by Hamas and other militant groups and the indiscriminate targeting of civilians. We share the UN condemnation of the placement of rockets in a UN school.
“Israel has the right to protect its population from this kind of attacks. In doing so, it must act proportionately and ensure the protection of civilians at all times,” it said.