The members of the Security Council expressed serious concern at the escalation of the situation in Gaza and called for an immediate halt to all violence. – Croatia's Neven Jurica, UN Security Council President We talked to them (Hamas) and we told them ‘please, we ask you, do not end the truce. Let the truce continue and not stop' so that we could have avoided what happened. - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas All Palestinian combatants and all the Islamic world's pious people are obliged to defend the defenceless women, children and people in Gaza in any way possible. – Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: Iran This is a tragic episode. It takes place at a time when there is a power vacuum in Israel and the United States ... France and Europe must work to obtain rapidly an end to the firing of rockets, an end to the bombings of retaliation and the opening of doors in Gaza ... Europeans have a role to play. – Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner: France The native land of Jesus cannot continue to be witness to so much bloodshed, repeating itself without end. I implore an end to that violence. – Pope Benedict: Vatican China expresses serious concern about the escalation of the tense situation in Gaza, denounces actions that cause injuries and deaths to ordinary people, opposes the use of military force in resolving disputes, appeals to related parties to exercise maximum restraint and to settle differences through dialogue. – Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang in a statement posted on the ministry's website: China The Indonesian government condemns the attack and calls for Israel to end the use of violence in the Gaza Strip because this will prompt new tensions, while, on the other side, the attack is an abuse of the Annapolis agreement. – Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah: Indonesia While India is aware of the immediate cross-border provocations resulting from rocket attacks particularly against targets in southern Israel, it urges an immediate end to the use of force against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip ... – A statement posted on the Foreign Ministry website: India Clearly, we are calling on Hamas and other militants to cease shelling southern Israel. Obviously they have broken the ceasefire and engaged in an act of aggression against Israel. Israel has responded. – Deputy PM Julia Gillard: Australia __
