Nick Clegg condemns Israel for 'disproportionate' killing of boys on a beach in Gaza

 
Condemnation: Nick Clegg was speaking on LBC radio
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Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg today condemned Israel for a “deliberately disproportionate” attack which left four boys dead on a beach.

The children, from the same family, were playing on the beach near Gaza City when they were struck by Israeli naval shells yesterday. Speaking on LBC radio, Mr Clegg called it a heavy-handed response to Hamas rocket attacks and said it represented “a deliberate form of collective punishment”.

He spoke as a five-hour truce started today. Israeli security forces said at least two rockets were fired from Gaza during the ceasefire. The “humanitarian pause” in the fighting was intended to give Gaza residents respite from Israeli fire and allow them to buy food and visit injured relatives in hospital.

More than 220 Palestinians have died in nine days of fighting and Hamas rockets have killed one Israeli. Hamas also agreed to stop firing rockets between 10am and 3pm today following a request from the UN and international aid organisations.

It is unclear whether the other main militant group in Gaza, Islamic Jihad, was party to the deal. The Israeli government threatened that any breach would lead to “firm and decisive” action. People queued outside banks and roads became packed with traffic as residents rushed to get supplies.

Minutes before the start of the truce, an Israeli tank fired on a house in Gaza, killing three people. Emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said four others were seriously wounded in the attack in Rafah.

Earlier, Israeli’s military said it had thwarted an attack by Hamas militants who sneaked into Israel from Gaza through a tunnel. It said 13 militants were identified at the tunnel’s opening near a kibbutz and were struck by Israeli aircraft. At least one militant was believed to have been killed.

There were faint hopes that today’s truce could lead to a longer ceasefire.

Hamas is reported to have presented 10 preconditions for a 10-year truce.

Although Israel is unlikely to agree to all of the demands, they could form the basis of another peace plan after an Egyptian proposal which called for an unconditional ceasefire was rejected.

The boys killed at the beach yesterday — Ismael Mohammed Bakr, nine, Zakaria Ahed Bakr and Ahed Atif Bakr, both 10, and Mohammed Ramiz Bakr, 11 — were all sons of fishermen. Hamas has called on the UN to condemn the “war crime”. The Israeli military said that “based on preliminary results, the target of this strike was Hamas terrorist operatives. The reported civilian casualties are a tragic outcome.”

The boys’ cousin, Dia Bakr, 32, said: “I can’t understand why whoever did the firing couldn’t see that these were just kids… the Israelis boast about having the best technology in the world, how can this happen?”

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