Senegal urged to suspend relations with Israel

Dakar, July 12 (IANS) Senegalese nationals have urged their government to suspend diplomatic relations with Israel due to the ongoing offensive in Gaza strip, a media report said Saturday.

They expressed their opinion during a protest Friday, bringing together civil society members, intellectuals, religious leaders and journalists in front of the Palestine embassy in Dakar, Xinhua reported.

"We are demanding the cutting off of ties with Israel until the end of the massacre," said Malick Ndiaye from the Circle of Senegalese Intellectuals.

Ndiaye, who is also a Senegalese presidential advisor, said the Israeli embassy in Dakar should be shut down.

Speaking during the same protest, a parliamentarian deplored the silence of the international community and human rights organisations in the face of Israeli bombardments in Gaza.

The toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 118.