By Xinhua
Brussels : Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair on Tuesday asked for a new strategy for the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the militant group Hamas.
“If we have learnt anything from the past few months, it is that the present strategy for Gaza is not working,” Blair told the European Parliament Middle East working group.
He said what is needed is a strategy that isolates the extremists and helps the people in Gaza. But the current situation shows that the opposite is true.
He said substantial flow of goods and resources to Gaza and outside of it should be made possible so that the humanitarian plight in Gaza can be eased.
Blair also wanted confidence-building measures from Israel in the West Bank, which is controlled by the moderate Fatah movement.
At the same time, he emphasized the need to significantly upgrade the security capability of the Palestinian Authority so that it can impose order in the Palestinian territories.
He argued that by improving the Palestinian security capability for Israel on the one hand and easing the burden of Israeli occupation on the other, both Israeli and Palestinian leaders can pass “the minimum credibility threshold” to persuade their peoples that a “two-state” solution is viable.
He said the essence of the issue is a “credibility gap” between people’s aspirations for a “two-state” solution and the reality they face on the ground.
Blair warned that time is running out. “We need to be aware of the fact that we are racing against time.”
He said the situation must improve by the time U.S. President George W. Bush visits the Middle East in mid-May.
“This is decision-making time as to whether people are serious about moving the process forward or not,” he said.
The Middle East Quartet is made up of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United State.