Brussels, 01/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - In Brussels, silence greeted the invitation made by the Israeli foreign affairs minister, Avigdor Lieberman, to his European colleagues to visit Gaza and observe that the humanitarian situation is not as dramatic as they had been led to believe (EUROPE 10169). The services of Catherine Ashton (it should be stressed that during this external service implementation phase, the high representative does not have a direct spokesperson and the service is unable to meet the goals of the common external service), did not confirm whether there had been an invitation or whether the high representative was likely to be on the list of those invited.
The only confirmation came from Paris. A spokesperson for the Department of foreign affairs indicated on Tuesday 29 June that “Bernard Kouchner had responded positively, in principle, to a visit of European ministers to Gaza” adding, nonetheless, that “a number of conditions must apply so that this visit can be useful” but did not provide any further details. The spokesperson did explain that “the question will be discussed amongst Europeans in the next few days” and affirmed that “no date has been set”.
The question is whether this invitation, made known by the Israeli department for social affairs, heralds in a more flexible application of the blockade in Gaza. The Israeli Embassy in Brussels neither confirmed nor denied the existence of such an invitation.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the prospect for a change towards Gaza is being discussed in Israel: “the defence Department is afraid that the government will give in to international pressure to allow goods to be exported from Gaza”. In its 30 June edition, the paper quotes “official sources” that had declared that “the international community - the Special Envoy of the Quartet, Tony Blair, in the forefront - is said to be currently drawing up a plan to convince Israel to introduce greater flexibility into its blockade of Gaza, by authorising the export of goods. In this case, potential markets would be: Israel, the Palestinian territories of 'Judaea-Samaria' and Europe”. (F.B./transl.fl)