Strasbourg, 05/07/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 5 July, the European Parliament held a new debate on the worsening situation between Israel and Palestine, and members of the European Parliament (placing emphasis on different areas), the Presidency of the Council and the Commission all called on both sides to come back to the negotiating table and renounce violence. Yesterday, the President of the Council of the EU, the Finnish foreign affairs Minister Erkki Tuomioja, held telephone conversations with the Palestinian government and the Egyptian foreign affairs Minister, the Minister for European affairs and trade, Paula Lehtomäki, told the plenary, adding: the young Israeli soldier who was kidnapped by the Palestinians must be freed immediately, and all members of the Palestinian government have been imprisoned by Israel must be freed as well, and military operations must cease. We must "keep alive" the hopes born of the meeting between the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Israeli Prime Minister Olmert, who took a decision, after this meeting, to get together again, said Ms Lehtomäki on behalf of the Presidency of the Council, adding: we must work to attenuate the suffering of civilians, but we must also show that the EU is doing more than just "opening its wallet". The European Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, spoke along the same lines, saying: one thing is clear, and that is that the only alternative is a negotiated solution based on both States. We must put an end to this escalating violence before it degenerates into a crisis which nobody can contain. Ms Ferrero-Waldner called on the Palestinians to free the young Israeli soldier, whilst warning that Israel must understand that it has responsibilities towards the well-being of the Palestinians, and it must, in particular, re-establish electricity supply to the Palestinian territories, where hundreds of thousands of people have had to go without it since the only power station, which is in Gaza, was bombed. I was there two weeks ago to see what was needed, and I can confirm that with this deterioration in the situation, the implementation of the mechanism proposed to help the Palestinian people (without having to be channelled via the Hamas-led government) is more urgent than ever, insisted Ms Ferrero-Waldner, whilst noting that this mechanism cannot be a "panacea", and that needs are great and the resources limited.
Most of the MEPs supported the planned proceedings of the Commission and the Presidency of the Council. We are on your side, "this is no time to give up", said Annemie Neyts-Uytterbroek, a Belgian Liberal. The European Commission has given a lot of thought to and developed a great many ideas on ways of helping the Palestinian people, and President Abbas was maybe getting things moving within Hamas, noted German Christian Democrat Elmar Brok, President of the committee on foreign affairs, who called for a meeting in good and due course of the Quartet for the peace process in the Middle East (the EU, the UN, the United States and Russia), rather than separate visits to the region. Both sides must become aware that their conflict is not a local conflict, that it is a threat to peace throughout the world, stressed Mr Brok, who believes that within this "vicious circle" of violence, it is hard to say who started, who is right and who is wrong. Pasqualina Napoletano (PES, Italy) made an even harsher judgment: certainly, the young Israeli soldier must be freed, but "an entire people", who are now undergoing "collective punishment", must also be freed, she exclaimed. "Gaza has turned into a prison" and international efforts to help the Palestinian people are in vain, because it is "practically isolated", she went on to state, noting that according to UN, UNICEF and WFP reports, the current humanitarian disaster is affecting more than a million civilians. But we must not reduce the Palestinian issue into a solely humanitarian affair, the Democratici di sinistra MEP repeated, taking the view that "the decapitation of Hamas (by Israel) was madness", just as the Prime Minister was distancing himself from the more radical positions. Once again, Israel is running the risk of encouraging the most extremist fringe elements in Palestine, Ms Napoletano warned.