Rockets pound Gaza, Bahrain strongly condemns attacks on Palestinians

Agencies | Gaza

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain yesterday strongly condemned the continuing barrage of airstrikes and artillery fire on Gaza, which Israel claimed was targetting tunnels to stop rocket attacks on Israeli towns.

In a telephone call with the Palestine Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Dr Riyadh Al-Maliki, Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Bahrain, expressed strong condemnation of the attacks, which had claimed over 122 lives, including 31 children and 20 women and wounded 900 others, so far.

Dr Al Zayani told Dr Riyadh Al-Maliki that Bahrain is with the Palestinian people for their right to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as capital based on the two-state solution.

The minister also conveyed condolences of Bahraini leadership to families of the martyrs and wishes of a speedy recovery to the injured. A pre-dawn offensive that lasted 40 minutes yesterday killed 13 Palestinians, including a mother and her three children, health officials in Gaza said.

Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said the Israeli operation included 160 aircraft, tanks and artillery firing from outside the Gaza Strip. Egypt was leading international efforts to secure a ceasefire amid fears the conflict could spread.

Security sources said neither side appeared amenable so far, but a Palestinian official said negotiations had intensified yesterday. Backing Egyptian efforts, Dr Al Zayani stressed the importance of concerted international efforts to stop the escalation and protecting the Palestinian people.

During the call, the minister also welcomed an invitation by Saudi Arabia to hold an Executive Committee of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation at the level of foreign ministers to discuss developments in the Palestinian territories and the Gaza Strip.

“What we were targeting is an elaborate system of tunnels that spans underneath Gaza, mostly in the north but not limited to, and is a network that the operatives of Hamas use to move, to hide, for cover,” Conricus told foreign reporters, adding that the network was dubbed “the Metro”.