Members of Knesset associated with Arab factions Hadash, Balad and Ra'am Ta'al have expressed opposition to IAF strikes on Gaza on Saturday. Both Hadash chairman Mohammed Barakeh and Balad Chairman Jamal Zahalka referred to the strikes, which targeted Hamas military posts in Gaza, as criminal.

The government should “immediately halt the crime in the Gaza Strip,” said Barakeh, whose party held a protest against the operation in Nazareth. Zahalka called for Defense Minister Ehud Barak to be tried for war crimes, and accused him of “trying to win votes in exchange for Palestinian blood.”