By KUNA
Brussels : The situation in Gaza is a humanitarian disaster which “no amount of condemnation will solve,” the leader of the Liberals Group in the European Parliament , Graham Watson, said Monday.
Speaking at a debate on the situation in Gaza in the EP in Strasbourg last night, Watson, a British Member of the European Parliament, said Gaza is “besieged”, and the trapping of 1.5 million people there, without power, water, or sewage treatment, “has made matters worse than at any point since 1967.” He noted that a further 11,000 Palestinians are being held in Israeli jails.
On strategy, “the EU follows the USA “, even though EU investments in Palestinian infrastructure “are being destroyed by the Israeli army using American weapons,” he said.
Socialist Group leader in the EP, Martin Schultz, pointed to the destruction in the region and said it was unacceptable “that what EU money builds is destroyed unnecessarily.” Daniel Cohn-Bendit, leader of the Greens in the EP, said that Israel should be told that unless it immediately halts the building of settlements, then “the EU will no longer support you.” The EU needs to convey the political message that “this cannot go on” – the colonial policy of Israel is a danger to the state of Israel, and Palestinian attacks work against Palestinian interests,” he concluded.
On his part, EP President Hans-Gert Pottering said Europe must help push forward the peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.
“The peace process launched at Annapolis must not founder on violence and terror,” he stressed.