Fischer calls for end to Israeli-Hamas fighting

The Austrian President Heinz Fischer has called for an end to the violence between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. "The international community must pay particular attention to the developments in the Middle East, and especially to the acts of violence that are escalating between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip," he said in a statement. Neither side had the right to use violence or to kill people on the principle of the end justifying the means, Fischer added. He also requested that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' announced application for a status upgrade to an "observer state" before the UN should be carefully examined. This was a signal that the conflict could be solved with international negotiations and not with violence, bombs and rockets, he underlined. Meanwhile, leader of the right-wing opposition Freedom Party (FP), Heinz-Christian Strache, defended Israel's actions against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Everything should be done to secure a peaceful solution in the region, he said, but it was absurd to blame Israel for trying to protect its people.