UK, first country to break current lethal silence over recent Israeli bloodletting

The British government broke silence over the Israeli raids into Gaza escalated since the signing of the Annapolis agreement in the US in November.

"The deaths and injury of a number of Palestinian civilians as a result of recent Israeli military incursions into Gaza risks undermining efforts to build confidence and give momentum to the peace process following Annapolis," Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells warned.

But his statement stopped short of direct condemnation of the Zionist regime after the massacre of some 55 Palestinians in recent weeks, with Howells calling on the Israeli army to only "exercise restraint and avoid harming civilians."

He also counter balanced his criticism with a warning against the Palestinian firings of rockets which come in partial retribution of the regime's atrocities, saying "relevant parties in Gaza should do their utmost to stop rocket firing."

"Our thoughts are with the families of all the victims of this violence," the junior minister added .

"We remain gravely concerned by the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and are doing what we can to alleviate the situation," he also vowed.

The written statement, which notably did not come from Foreign ecretary David Miliband, comes after at least 20 Palestinians, ncluding five members of a single family, were massacred during the usurper regime tank and helicopter attacks on Gaza in the past week.