Strasbourg, 17/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - The situation in the Middle East continues to cause the European Parliament concern. As the plenary session opened on Monday evening, President Pöttering briefly took stock of the results of the visit to the Palestinian territories, Jerusalem and Gaza by the EP delegation in Israel, led by Belgian Socialist Véronique de Keyser (see EUROPE 9675). He noted that there is still a long way to go before achieving the Annapolis objectives. The delegation's “damning” report comes to the unanimous conclusion that the situation in the region has deteriorated despite some “sectoral and restricted” improvements. Among the many problems facing the people of Gaza, Mr Pöttering spoke of the case of fishermen who see their livelihood threatened by uncontrolled pollution. He expressed the European Parliament's solidarity with them. (L.G./transl.jl)