By NNN-KUNA,
London : Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair have told MPs here a “period of calm” is vital to the prospects for Middle East peace.
Blair was giving evidence Thursday in his capacity as an envoy for the Quartet of the US, UN, EU and Russia.
“We have to alter the current state of events fundamentally,” he told the UK International Development Committee, which is investigating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“What we need to do is to get a period of calm, to get a ceasefire in Gaza, progressively to start reopening the crossings, start to get proper humanitarian help through and then build our way back out of this to a situation where the people of Gaza can be helped and secondly, and very importantly, the situation in Gaza does not disrupt other possibilities of progress.”
He said that his view of the situation had been transformed since he was dealing with the issue as British Prime Minister and he now recognised the vital importance of the situation on the ground to enabling constructive political dialogue.
Blair said that there was “a lot more Israel could do and has to do”, but that while it remained under rocket attack there was little prospect of progress. “A few weeks back we were pressing the Israelis to let in more fuel into Gaza and they then go and kill two innocent Israeli civilians who were trying to get the fuel into Gaza, it does not create a very easy situation,” he said.
“Until you get a period of calm in Gaza, you won’t get the space into which a more rational and more sensible political discourse starts to happen. Without that happening it is very difficult to see how we are going to ease the humanitarian situation.”
He said: “I have my own very strong views about how Israel has got to go further and faster, particularly on the West Bank. But it is important always to recognise that they are subject to these terrorist attacks; they do have a genuine security threat.”
Blair stressed that it was vital the new US president engages with the Middle East issue as soon as he is elected later this year. “With this new American president, it is really important that focus is kept on this all the time,” he told the committee.
“It will be a real problem if the new American president takes a couple of years to work his way into it.”
Blair said he now regarded the situation in the Middle East as even more important than he had considered it while he was British Prime Minister.
“It is fundamental to sorting out the region. It is fundamental to peace between the world of Islam and the West.”
Blair said the Berlin Conference on the Middle East later this month was a “really important” opportunity to move the process forward by establishing a proper plan for the Palestinian security forces and the implementation of proposals for the civil police force, prisons and courts.
Most Israelis now accepted that a negotiated two-state solution was the only way to stop the violence, he pointed out.
“I believe the majority of sensible Israelis know that there is no alternative to a two-state solution but a big fight continuing for a long period of time,” he said.
Blair said he had not yet visited Gaza personally but hoped to “when I can”.
“It’s a question of choosing a moment that helps rather than a moment that harms,” he added.