In making these demands, Belize stands out in the America's. So far only Bolivia has broken off relations with Israel, while strong statements of condemnation have come from Chile, Columbia and Honduras.
CARICOM on Sunday issued a strongly worded statement calling for a ceasefire, but no other Caribbean nation has been as bold in its actions as Belize.
We asked Courtenay about that:
Jules Vasquez
"How did you almost muster the wherewithal, to stake out in this Caribbean region in particular, to make such a bold, to take such a bold position?"
Eamon Courtenay, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"Again, we are in a very specific situation vis-a-vis Guatemala, vis-a-vis our road to independence, which is entirely different from most of the Caribbean and most of Central America."
"They don't have the possibility of one country claiming two -thirds of their territory. And so the basis on which we acted, one, as I said, was having regard to our history and the basis of our independence."
"Secondly, our respect for the United Nations charter and for norms of international relations. And thirdly, the moral dimension. We cannot sit by and look at genocide before our very eyes and remain quiet."
"And so when we had the debate or the discussion in cabinet yesterday, no one was against and everyone was in favor."
