BEIJING, June 1, (Agencies): China on Tuesday condemned Israel’s deadly commando raid on ships taking humanitarian aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip in which at least nine people were killed and dozens wounded.
“China is shocked at Israel’s attack. We condemn the act,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told a regular news conference.
Beijing’s condemnation of the Israeli raid contrasts with the cautious position it has taken amid rising tensions between its Korean neighbors. China, North Korea’s main backer, has expressed no support for proposed UN sanctions against ally North Korea over its alleged sinking of a South Korean warship.
When asked how China can condemn Israel and not say anything about the alleged North Korean attack that left 46 South Korean sailors dead, Ma said “I don’t understand your logic and I don’t want to comment on your question.”
He said China had no first-hand information on the alleged North Korean attack.
China has previously criticized the Israeli government’s move to expand Jewish settlements in the part of Jerusalem claimed by Palestinians, saying it poses new obstacles to the Middle East peace process.
Australia
Australia Tuesday strongly condemned a deadly raid by Israeli commandos on a Gaza-bound aid ship, in which at least nine people were killed, and called for an urgent independent inquiry.
“The Australian government condemns any use of violence under the sorts of circumstances that we have seen,” Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told reporters.
An Australian man was shot in the leg during a deadly raid by Israeli commandos on a Gaza-bound aid ship, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said on Tuesday.
The man has received hospital treatment, while two Australian journalists on the flotilla were both safe after the “terrible and shocking incident”, which left nine pro-Palestinian activists dead.
“We do know in the case of the two journalists that they are safe. So far as the injured Australian is concerned, he is being provided with consular assistance.”
New Zealand
New Zealand Tuesday condemned Israel’s raid on an aid flotilla sailing to Gaza and said it was trying to make contact with a New Zealand citizen who had been on one of the ships.
“We understand she is now in Israeli custody but is safe and well,” Foreign Minister Murray McCully said.
“We are pursuing all the usual lines of consular activity to make contact with her,” he said of the woman, who works for a British-based non-governmental organisation.
Indonesia
Thousands of Muslims took to the streets Tuesday in several Indonesian cities to protest a raid by Israeli commandos aboard a ship carrying aid that resulted in at least nine deaths.
Indonesia has strongly condemned the Monday attack on a Turkish ship carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. Some 12 Indonesians on board were safe, said Teguh Wardoyo, a Foreign Ministry official.
Indonesian Islamist hardliners called Tuesday for the government to cancel a visit to Jakarta this month by US President Barack Obama in protest at Israel’s bloody raid on a Gaza-bound aid convoy.
Malaysia
A Palestinian man slashed himself with a box cutter outside the US Embassy in Malaysia on Tuesday at a protest against Israel’s attack on a Gaza aid flotilla.
Some 500 people demonstrated outside the American Embassy in this Muslim-majority nation, waving banners that read “Save Gaza” and “Stop the Israeli crimes in Gaza,” and shouting “Long live Palestine.”