France, Russia Condemn Israeli Offensives Against

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France, Russia Condemn Israeli Offensives Against Palestinians

PARIS - France sent a blunt message to Israel Friday, October 18, calling on
it to halt its military "operations" against the Palestinians after a Gaza
Strip tank attack that added to an already high toll of civilian deaths.
Meanwhile, Russia condemned disproportionate use of force by Israel against
Palestinians.

"We roundly deplore the recent incidents yesterday in Rafah, in the Gaza
Strip, where Israeli shells on a school and Palestinian houses left at least
eight dead, including two children," a spokeswoman for the French Foreign
Ministry, Cecile Pozzo di Borgo, said.

"We call the Israeli authorities to show better restraint and to halt all
military operations in the Palestinian territories," she told a media
conference.

Pozzo di Borgo added that Paris saw Israel's incursions as a violation of the
Geneva Conventions and a blow to international efforts to restore some sort
of stability to the region.

The Rafah incidents "result once again from the Israeli army's recourse to
disproportionate military means against a civilian Palestinian population in
densely populated urban areas," she said.

A similar message came from Moscow, as Russia on Friday condemned the Israeli
army's excessive use of force.

"While firmly condemning the "terrorist actions" of extremists, (Russia)
views with great concern the disproportionately harsh operations carried out
by Israeli forces," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Russian statement blasted the Israeli army for attacking in a "densely
populated Palestinian territory and causing the unjustified loss of civilian
lives".

"The only chance of escaping the current dead end in Israeli-Palestinian
relations is by a return to dialogue," it said.

Israeli tanks killed eight Palestinians, including two children, on Thursday,
October 17, when they blasted two houses in the southern Gaza Strip town of
Rafah with shells and heavy machine gun fire.

The murdered children were a four-year-old girl and a 12-year-old child.

Among the dead were also two young men and two elderly women and a dozen
Palestinians were listed as seriously hurt.

Russia officially co-sponsors the Middle East peace process and is a member
of the Quartet, along with the European Union, the United Nations and the
United States, which is working for a peaceful settlement in the region.