Turkey accuses Israel of ‘ethnic cleansing’

TURKEY: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza, saying the Jewish state's air raids could not be considered self-defence.

“Israel is committing ethnic cleansing by ignoring peace in this region and violating international law,” Erdogan said. “It is occupying the Palestinian territory step by step.”

The premier said Israeli air raids against Gaza could not be deemed self-defence, accusing Western countries of aiding what he called a “terrorist state” by condoning its violence in the Middle East.

“Sooner or later, Israel will answer for the innocent blood it has shed so far,” he said.

AFP Gaza office hit

GAZA CITY: The building housing AFP's Gaza City office was hit in an Israeli air strike on Tuesday night, an AFP photographer and the Israeli military said. AFP photographer Mahmud Hams, who was in the fourth-floor office at the time and was unharmed, said no AFP staff were hurt in the attack. He said at least three rockets appeared to have hit the building.

US blocks UN Council statement on Gaza

UN: The United States on Tuesday blocked a UN Security Council statement on the Gaza conflict, arguing that it would have been “counter-productive” amid efforts to reach a ceasefire.

The United States sent a letter to the 14 other council missions just before a Tuesday deadline for the statement to take effect, diplomats told AFP.

Diplomats quoted the US letter as saying the proposed resolution “failed to address the root cause” of the showdown between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers, which it said was rocket attacks into Israel. The US letter called the statement “counter-productive” and added that it was “failing to contribute to diplomacy.”

Israel has said its six-day old series of strikes in which more than 140 Palestinians have been killed is a response to the rocket attacks for the six day offensive. Three Israelis have been killed in a rocket attack from Gaza.

Six Gaza collaborators' killed

GAZA CITY: Gunmen executed six “collaborators” in Gaza City on Tuesday, witnesses told AFP, adding that notices were pinned to their bodies saying they had been killed by Hamas's armed wing.

“Gunmen in a minibus pulled up in the neighbourhood, pushed six men out and shot them without leaving the vehicle,” one of the witnesses said.

AFP