Egypt calls on Israel to exercise self-restraint toward Palestinians

The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called on Israel to exercise self-restraint, and to stop to its revenge and collective punishment policies towards Palestinians, Egypt’s State Information Service reported today.  

The statement comes after Israel bombed dozens of sites in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, wounding two Palestinians, a day after finding the dead bodies of three Israeli teenagers, missing since June 12, in the occupied West Bank.

Israel has blamed the kidnapping and killings on the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. The Islamist group has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in the disappearance of the students nor in cross-border rocket salvoes from Gaza.

“Israel will act with a heavy hand until terror is uprooted,” Israeli President Shimon Peres said at the mourning ceremony for the Israeli teenagers on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Israeli police found the dead body of a Palestinian teenager in a forest in west Jerusalem, early this morning, after receiving reports overnight of a missing Palestinian. It is not clear yet if the two cases are the same, Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz reported.  

Israeli mobs protested in Jerusalem on Tuesday calling for revenge for the murdered Israelis, Haaretz said. Five Palestinians were attacked, and two of them needed medical treatment. Fifty Israelis were arrested.

Egypt has called on Israel to give Palestinians the opportunity to take responsibility, track down the perpetrators, and bring them to legal accountability. It has condemned violent attacks on both sides that lead to the killing of innocent civilians.