Syria has notified Turkey that it was ceasing all indirect negotiations with Israel following the IAF's offensive on Hamas installations in the Gaza Strip.
One Syrian government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said that "Israel's aggression closes all the doors" to any move toward a settlement in the region.
Turkey's prime minister on Sunday denounced Israel's air assault on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip as a "crime against humanity" and called for it to end.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of using "disproportionate force" and said the attacks were a "blow to peace." "To go and bomb these defenseless people, and to openly say that this operation will be a long-lasting one, that it will be this or that, to me, is a serious crime against humanity," Erdogan said at a meeting of his ruling Islamic-rooted party.
Turkey is Israel's closest ally in the Muslim world but Erdogan said he was appalled that the attacks came as his country was mediating peace talks between Syria and Israel. He said the attacks were a "show of disrespect" toward Turkey.
In Damascus, thousands of Syrian protested the IDF's assault on Gaza. The demonstrators were carrying pictures of President Bashar Assad and Syrian flags and shouting slogans condemning Israel and the United States. Several protesters were burning American flags. Similar protests were held in Beirut, Lebanon, Amman in Jordan and Sana'a in Yemen.
Hizbullah sources told the London-based Al Hayat that the Lebanese Shi'ite terror group had no intention of reacting to Israeli attacks on Gaza. According to the sources, Hizbullah had no interest in "threatening to hurt the stability in south Lebanon."
Israeli warplanes were circling the Lebanese airspace throughout the night, the Al Jazeera TV network reported.