Brussels, 28/06/2010 (Agence Europe) - EU foreign ministers have been invited to visit Gaza, Israeli Social Affairs Minister Yitzhak Herzog stated on Sunday 27 June. He said that EU ministers could, in this way, see for themselves that the bleak picture painted from the outside does not correspond to the reality on the ground in Gaza. The minister confirmed what Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said in Rome on Thursday, following a meeting with Avigdor Lieberman. Lieberman issued an invitation to EU ministers to visit the territory, currently under Israeli blockade, to see that there is no humanitarian crisis, it was reported in the international press, which sees this invitation above all as a way of putting a de facto end to the diplomatic blockade on the Palestinian enclave. The accuracy of this view may be tested in the coming days as a new “peace flotilla” is preparing to leave from Lebanon. Israel's reaction will be closely monitored.
France, it would seem, is unaware of any invitation. On Monday morning, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said in Paris, “We will check”, but, to his knowledge, there had been no such invitation, though Minister Bernard Kouchner would accept if one were to be received. He noted that Kouchner had several times indicated that he would like to visit Gaza, though not without Israeli approval. He still would like to travel to Gaza because “France's commitment to the Palestinian people is constant. We will have the opportunity to prove it once again at the Paris Conference (on Palestine) Monitoring Committee dinner, here in Paris on 1 July”. The spokesman went on to say that “France supports lifting the blockade. We have welcomed the announcements from the Israeli government to that effect, and will, with the Palestinian Authority and our European Union and Quartet partners, ensure that the pledges are implemented”.
Israel recently announced the relaxation of the blockade. Despite this, however, on 20 June, German Development Minister Dirk Niebel was prevented from visiting Gaza, leading to immediate protests from Berlin. Niebel said he was “disappointed that Israel could not understand the actions of its most faithful friends”. The minister began a visit to the region on the Saturday and was due to officially mark the start of construction work on a German-funded water purification plant in Nablus, on the West Bank. Germany is acting as a mediator in the release of Israeli soldier Ghilad Shalit. An exchange of prisoners is thought to be imminent. According to the Jerusalem Post, Israel will release a first group of 450 Palestinian prisoners, followed by a second group of 550, in order to secure the release of its soldier who is being held in Gaza. “The state of Israel has agreed to pay a very heavy price, one that is too heavy in the eyes of many,” Science Minister Daniel Hershkowitz told press on Sunday. (F.B./transl.rt)