Arnold Cassola, Alternattiva Demokratika Chairperson, said, “What is happening in Gaza goes beyond any reasonable and acceptable action. Over a thousand people have now fallen victim of this bloody 19 day war, 40% of whom are women and children. This is totally unacceptable and makes a mockery of basic human rights.”

Mark Scerri, AD international secretary and spokesperson on foreign affairs added, “These nineteen days have seen unprecedented episodes, with Israeli troops attacking UN humanitarian convoys, Red Cross ambulances aand even a school flying a UN flag. The Israeli government should be ashamed of what is happening.”

Prof. Cassola added, “Alternattiva Demokratika joins the European Greens in reaffirming the right of Israel to defend itself but stresses that such right must be proportional to the threat received and should be exerted in full compliance with the humanitarian law and international obligations with regard to the Geneva Conventions. We therefore firmly condemn the massive and disproportionate offensives by the Israeli air and ground forces in a densely populated area that have caused an increasingly high number of victims among the civilian population.”

“There cannot be a military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and therefore Alternattiva Demokratika welcomes all the diplomatic actions aimed at reaching a sustainable truce based on stopping of the launching of rockets by Hamas, the end of the smuggling of weapons and the end of the Israeli blockade of the Gaza strip, along with the opening of the borders and a new and effective agreement about the management of the crossing points,” concluded Prof. Cassola.