The Foreign Ministry on Monday announced that it had refused Belgian minister Charles Michel's request for a visa to enter the Gaza Strip.
Deputy Foreign Ministry Danny Ayalon told Michel that Israel could not accede to the demand because such a move would be seen as a gesture to the Hamas. Ayalon added that any aide Belgium planned to grant the Islamist movement would fall into the hands of militants, rather than being distributed among Gaza's needy.
Michel said in response to the rejection that European officials must be able to visit the territory to take part in the aid projects underway there. "This situation is unacceptable," he told RTL TV.
Israel has refused a number of similar requests from foreign ministers of various countries, including that of Turkey, France and the European Union's foreign policy chief. Officials can enter Gaza from Egypt, however.
| Then let them go bother the Egyptians for permission to pass through their security wall. |
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