By NNN-KUNA
Paris : Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Ehud Barak has held talks here with a number of senior officials to discuss bilateral relations, the worsening situation in Gaza and the overall Mideast peace process.
In a morning meeting with his French counterpart Herve Morin, Barak stressed Israel’s position relative to Gaza and his countrys security imperatives.
After the talks, he said that “if it is not quiet here (in Israel), it will not be quiet there (in Gaza),” a combative stance at a time when most people are calling for restraint and a way out of the crisis.
Later, after a working lunch with Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Barak reiterated his country’s concern for its security faced with rocket attacks from Gaza. Those attacks have killed two people in a year, while Israeli attacks against Gaza have killed almost 40 people in just over a week, and the toll rises into several hundreds for the year.
Barak also sought to accuse the Hamas authorities in Gaza of exaggerating the condition of the civilian population, which is fast running out of food and fuel and is being held hostage by a sporadic Israeli blockade. He said it was “propaganda” to say Gazans were suffering the way they are.
Barak maintained “there is no famine in Gaza” and he said people were not living in the dark there, even though power had been cut off because of Israeli disruptions of fuel supplies.
Diplomats here expressed some surprise at the “combative” nature of Barak’s approach here.
For his part, Kouchner warned “there is no military solution” to this conflict. He said the solution must be “political”.
He also said that France was willing to help the situation, especially if Egypt asks for assistance in dealing with the massive exodus of Palestinians from Gaza, seeking food and other supplies on the Egyptian side of the closed border at Rafah.
Kouchner also noted that some supplies were now getting through to Gaza, but this appears to be at a minimal amount and UN authorities warn the situation is still at crisis level and has been that way for several months.
The director of the refugee agency UNRWA, John Ging, said publicly this week that what was happening in Gaza was a clear breach of international, humanitarian law and he was sharply critical of what Israel was doing to Palestinian civilians.
He told the BBC World on Tuesday that the closures and deprivations were “counterproductive” to Israeli security objectives as they were provoking support for attacks, not the opposite.
Speaking here beside Barak Wednesday, the French Foreign Minister urged that the agreements and commitments of the Paris Aid Conference on the Palestinian state, which was held here in December, be kept in mind and that the parties should strive to achieve these goals.
One of the objectives was to lift Israeli blockades on Palestinian areas and to allow the economy to improve, but this has not materialised and the situation has gotten even worse in some areas.
At the same time, demands on the Palestinians to improve security have been met to a degree and international monitors of the Paris Conference and its aftermath welcomed steps in this direction, which has been one of the points Israel has been insisting upon.
Barak on Wednesday evening was scheduled to continue consultations here with President Nicolas Sarkozy, when the same topics are up for discussion.