The world’s most powerful political leaders have struggled on Sunday to prevent Middle East violence from expanding to an even more extensive war. As the world’s G8 leaders met, they urged Israel to show “utmost restraint” during the difficult time, and blamed Islamic militant group Hezbollah and Hamas for instigating the unfolding crisis, which has now been ongoing for 5-days.
Other world problems were quickly set aside as the G8 heads addressed Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, and Hezbollah’s missile strikes on civilian targets in Israel.As the G8 investigated the situation, they concluded that the violence was prompted by the capture of 2 Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah guerrillas in a raid from Lebanon, as well as Hamas’ rocket attacks in Gaza and the abduction of a third Israeli.
A G8 statement read: “These extremist elements and those that support them cannot be allowed to plunge the Middle East into chaos and provoke a wider conflict. The extremists must immediately halt their attacks.”
The statement published was a consensus of leaders from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, the United States, and Russia.
However, with the delicacy of the situation, the statement wording was criticised by some as being ambiguous, in that it allowed various leaders to read the document in different ways. The outcome reflected the varying alliances of summit partners with parties in the Middle East, and their conflicting views over whether Israel was using excessive force.
French President Jacques Chirac said, “It is evident that the G8 is calling for a cease-fire.”However, from the United States, Nicholas Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs, said, “There was no push by any country for a cease-fire.”
The statement did demand the return, unharmed, of the Israeli soldiers, and an end to the shelling of Israeli territory and a halt to Israeli military operations.
The Bush administration, which has refused to demand Israel to halt its retaliation, said the call for a stop to Israeli strikes was conditioned on the soldiers' release and the end of missile attacks on Israel. The G8 statement was unclear on those points.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters, “We do not want to let terrorist forces and those who support them have the opportunity to create chaos in the Middle East.”
She said that “first of all, that the Israeli soldiers must be returned unharmed, that the attacks on Israel must stop and that then, of course, also the Israeli military action must be ended."These extremist elements and those that support them cannot be allowed to plunge the Middle East into chaos and provoke a wider conflict. The extremists must immediately halt their attacks.
G8 Statement
