Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro likened the latest Israeli onslaught on Gaza, which has so far claimed over 350 lives, to an “extermination,” RT reported Sunday.
Venezuela further called for an emergency session of the UN’s Human Rights Council to address Israel’s ongoing military incursion in Gaza, on Saturday.
The South American nation’s government also reiterated its support for the Palestinian people and warned that the Israeli regime had “initiated a higher phase of its policy of genocide and extermination with the ground invasion of Palestinian territory, killing innocent men, women, girls and boys.”
“President Nicolas Maduro has instructed the Ambassador to the UN Jorge Valera to call for an emergency session of the Human Rights Council,” said an official statement on Saturday, adding the UN should address the “systematic violation of the Human Rights of the Palestinian population in Gaza by the State of Israel and adopt the necessary measures to halt those violations.”
Venezuela has been a staunch supporter of Palestinian statehood, with the previous president, the late Hugo Chavez, severing relations with Israel after he compared its 2009 military incursion into Gaza to the Holocaust.
Meanwhile, Bolivian President Evo Morales joined with the Venezuelan leader in condemnation of Israel’s so-called Operation Protective Edge. During a visit to Brazil, the Andean leader said it was high time something was done “to end the genocide that Israel is carrying out on Palestine.”
“There is no UN High Commission on Human Rights, there is no Human Rights Council. When an empire attacks a country with a view to dominating it, unfortunately there is no one who can defend the people,” said Morales in a statement.
This is while Turkish Prime Minister also rounded on Israel for its Gaza offensive on Saturday, alleging the Jewish state had “surpassed Hitler in barbarism.”
"[Israelis] have no conscience, no honor, no pride. Those who condemn Hitler day and night have surpassed Hitler in barbarism," Erdogan told supporters at a political rally in the Black Sea city of Ordu.
He accused the US government of taking a “disproportionate” approach to the conflict and said the Muslim world had not reacted strongly enough to the offensive. Israel has discouraged its citizens from traveling to Turkey, citing the current public mood and the underlying cause.
MB/MB