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EU 'won't let Palestians down'
15/06/2007 16:53 - (SA)
Brussels - International Quartet foreign ministers, trying to settle the Middle East conflict, were on Friday to discuss by phone the deteriorating situation in violence-wracked Gaza, EU officials said.
EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner expressed "extreme concern" at the situation in Gaza where Hamas fighters were in control on Friday, effectively creating an Islamic enclave on Israel's border after routing their secular Fatah rivals in days of vicious gun battles.
"I will discuss the matter with other Quartet members during the course of the day," she added, referring to the United States, the UN and Russia.
Her spokesperson said the talks would be at foreign minister-level. EU sources said the discussions were expected to be held via a conference call but no time was given.
Ferrero-Waldner said: "The violence has to stop.
"We are analysing the situation after the decision of (Palestinian) President Mahmoud Abbas to dissolve the government and to declare the state of emergency.
Preventing humanitarian aid
"I urge all parties to restrain from violence and to spare civilians. I call on president Abbas, the legitimate president of all Palestinians, to make his utmost to resolve the situation through dialogue and to work towards national unity and reconciliation."
On Thursday, European Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel called for a humanitarian truce in Gaza to allow injured people out and basic assistance like food and medicines in.
"I am appalled by the current situation in Gaza that is preventing humanitarian workers from assisting people in desperate need," said Michel, the day after announcing that the EU was suspending its relief projects in the Gaza Strip due to the lack of security.
Ferrero-Waldner stressed that the EU "will not let the Palestinians down".
She said the Union would continue humanitarian assistance through the temporary mechanism it had set up to funnel funds in while sidestepping Hamas "or through the direct delivery of food, water and medicine to both the West Bank and Gaza".
'Violent seizure of power'
The spokesperson for Ferrero-Waldner said the aid was blocked in warehouses but the agency workers, notably from the Red Cross and Red Crescent were seeking to resume their aid work as soon as possible.
The German EU presidency, in a statement, condemned in the strongest possible terms "the violent seizure of power" by Hamas militia in the Gaza Strip.
Berlin also voiced concern about the repercussions for the humanitarian situation and demanded that all sides facilitate supplies to the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip.
- AFP
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