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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
EU commissioner visits Gaza, confirms Israel violated international law; calls for long-term ceasefire
2009-01-27
Ma'an's version...
European Union's Commissioner Louis Michel visited Gaza City on Monday, where he called for maintaining the ceasefire, opening border crossings and lifting the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.

Standing in front of the missiled UN storehouses, bombed by Israel during the three week onslaught, Michel expressed his astonishment at the damage caused by the Israeli offensive.

Israel violated international and human rights, he said, and affirmed that civilians were directly targeted during the attacks. He expressed shock at the evidence that 50% of victims were civilians including women and children.

"The most painful thing for me was the sizable of destruction in infra-structures, economic facilities and factories which used to provide work opportunities for the Palestinians. [The destruction of these] was an unjustifiable violation of international law," he stated.

At the same time, Michel condemned all military action against civilians, including Israeli civilians, referring to the home-made projectiles the Palestinian factions launch from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli towns. He described that as "terrorism" because those attacks target guiltless people.

He added, "Today I believe more than any other time in the past that military operations can never be a solution. Instead, the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip should be maintained, and crossing points should be completely open not only for passage of humanitarian aid, but also to refresh the economy in the strip."
And the BBC's version...
EU envoy lays Gaza blame on Hamas

A senior European Union official touring war-torn Gaza has blamed the ruling militant movement Hamas for the humanitarian crisis there. Humanitarian aid chief Louis Michel called the destruction left by Israel's offensive "abominable", but said Hamas bore "overwhelming responsibility". He said there would be no dialogue with with the "terrorist" movement until it gave up violence and recognised Israel.

Touring some of Gaza's worst-hit areas of Israel's 22-day assault which killed about 1,300 Palestinians, including 400 children, Mr Michel described the situation as "abominable, indescribable".

"At this time we have to also recall the overwhelming responsibility of Hamas," he said. "I intentionally say this here - Hamas is a terrorist movement and it has to be denounced as such."

Thirteen Israelis were killed in the conflict, and Mr Michel later visited the southern Israeli town of Sderot, the target of Palestinian militant rocket fire. There, he called on Israel to lift its blockade of Gaza and accused both sides of violating humanitarian law. "Please open the crossings, you have to broaden the range of products that you let in," he urged Israel's authorities. "We, the EU, condemn Qassam attacks and military options which target the civilian population."

The former Belgian foreign minister insisted there would be no dialogue with Hamas, saying its use of terrorism against Israeli civilians meant it was not a legitimate resistance movement.

Some aid agencies have expressed doubts about how effective a reconstruction drive in Gaza can be without the involvement of Hamas, which controls the territory, says the BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Gaza.

Announcing the extra aid, Mr Michel said people in the EU were sick of paying for the same infrastructure being destroyed over and over again in Israeli military action. The EU is the main donor to the Palestinians, having given three billion euros since 2000, Mr Michel said. "Every year, we spend 600 to 700m euros. Today we decided on a supplementary payment of 60m euros."

Hmmmmmm. Something seems lost in translation
Posted by:Fred

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Posted by: rabid whitetail   2009-01-27 12:36  

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Posted by: Parabellum   2009-01-27 09:12  

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Posted by: CrazyFool   2009-01-27 00:09  

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Posted by: Anonymoose   2009-01-27 00:05  

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