SEOUL, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa said on Monday that the Gaza Strip could turn into a prison camp if there was no solution to the problems of the area. Kidwa's warning came as the region was gripped by the worst violence since Israel's withdrawal from the occupied Gaza Strip in September. "Unless a range of problems in the Gaza Strip is resolved, it will turn into a huge prison camp," Kidwa, speaking through an interpreter, told a news conference during a visit to South Korea. | I had a free-fire zone in mind, but a prison camp works |
Israel's withdrawal from Gaza was "a positive step" but must be followed up by actions to hand over real control, Kidwa told the conference after talks with South Korean officials including Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon. "There has been no change in the legal status of the Gaza Strip," he said, adding Israel continued to control water resources and passage rights through the region.
On Sunday, Israeli troops shot dead two militants in the West Bank from the Islamic Jihad faction that killed five Israelis in a suicide bombing last Wednesday. Islamic Jihad said it reserved the right to avenge the killings, hours after it had agreed to halt rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip that had drawn Israeli strikes in which nine Palestinians, mostly militants, were killed last week. |