- The European Union's Dutch presidency has called Israel's
intensified military incursions in Gaza a 'disproportionate' reaction to
Palestinian rocket attacks.
-
- "Israel has the right to protect its citizens from
terrorist attacks but ... the exercise of this right should take place
within the boundaries of international law," Dutch Foreign Minister
Bernard Bot said in a statement in Amsterdam on Friday.
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- Condemnation
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- Bot condemned a rocket attack by Palestinian resistance
group Hamas which killed two Israeli children in the border town of Sderot
on Wednesday and called on the Palestinian authority to clamp down on those
behind such actions.
-
- But he also called Israel's subsequent military retaliation
in Gaza "disproportionate", noting it had also led to the deaths
of civilians, including children, and left many injured.
-
- "Bot urged Israel and the Palestinians to consider
the longer-term consequences of their actions, which merely inflame the
situation and give rejectionist forces a pretext to derail the quest for
a peaceful settlement," the Dutch statement said.
-
- The EU is a sponsor of the "road map" initiative
for Middle East peace.
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- Growing death toll
-
- Meanwhile, the Palestinian death toll - as a result of
sustained Israeli military operations in northern Gaza - rose to 40 on
Friday. The latest was the killing of a Palestinian teenager, reported
Aljazeera.net correspondent Laila El-Haddad in Gaza.
-
- Sixteen-year-old Adnan al-Bari from the Shati refugee
camp was killed when an Israeli tank shell landed near a group of Palestinians
in Block 4 of the densely-populated Jabalya refugee camp, according to
medical sources in the area.
-
- Al-Bari was visiting relatives at the time, the correspondent
said.
-
- Earlier on Friday, two Palestinians were killed by Israeli
fire just hours after around 100 Israeli tanks moved deep into the Palestinian
territories.
-
- Palestinians security sources identified one of the dead
as 35-year-old Atif Sabbah of Hamas.
-
- Four other people were wounded in the incident, medics
said, adding that another shell had been fired on Jabalya earlier, injuring
at least one person.
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- The latest violence raised to 4399 the number of people
killed since the start of the Intifada four years ago. They include 3375
Palestinians and 953 Israelis.
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- - Aljazeera + Agencies © 2003 - 2004 Aljazeera.Net
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A7B57767-064D-
4E38-A00C-C837FAC433C0.htm
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