Diplomatic pressure mounted on Israel on Tuesday with Chile and Peru saying they were recalling their ambassadors. Chile, a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, is home to one of the world's largest Palestinian communities outside the Middle East, as well as a sizable Jewish community.
"Chile observes with great concern and discouragement that the military operations - which at this point appear to be a collective punishment to the Palestinian civil population in Gaza - don't respect fundamental norms of international humanitarian law," its foreign ministry said. Both President Barack Obama and the U.N. Security Council have called for an immediate cease-fire to allow relief to reach Gaza's 1.8 million Palestinians, followed by negotiations on a more durable end to hostilities. Efforts led by Secretary of State John Kerry last week failed to achieve a breakthrough. Since Hamas is shunned by the United States and Israel as a terrorist group, Kerry's mediation has been facilitated by Egypt, Turkey, Qatar and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
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