Moratinos verwelkomt gedeeltelijke opheffing blokkade Gaza (en)

This Thursday, the Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, expressed his belief that Israel's decision to partially lift the Gaza blockade is 'moving in the right direction' and stated the EU's readiness to work with the parties involved.

What the EU now has to do ‘is implement once again the 2005 agreement’, the minister said during the June European Council. ‘And we are working with all the parties involved,’ he added.

At the Council held in Luxembourg on Monday, the Community foreign affairs ministers expressed their willingness to help 'with a presence', by reactivating the agreement regarding the Rafah border crossing, between Gaza and Egypt.

After the Foreign Affairs Council, Mr Moratinos talked to his Israeli counterpart, Avidor Lieberman, who told him that 'he appreciated the European position' and informed him of the policy changed regarding the situation in Gaza.

Mr Moratinos stated that, if the EU has its way, there will be 'a European presence at crossing points into Gaza to facilitate the arrival of all kinds of goods and individuals' and at the same time it will be a guarantee to Israel of 'due vigilance and control to ensure that there is no arms smuggling or anything which could be detrimental to the security of the region'.

The EU will have to work with the parties involved - Israel, the Palestinian National Authority and Egypt - to make it easier for more products to get through to the strip, Mr Moratinos said.

The minister reiterated that from now on 'instead of having a list of authorised articles, it will be the other way round', and there will only be 'two or three prohibited items'.

The Israeli government has announced that 'it will make the system by which civilian goods enter Gaza more flexible and increase the flow of materials for those civilian projects which are under international supervision, while it will continue with the existing security procedures to prevent the entry of arms and war material'.

Moratinos studies the Gaza situation in Paris

Miguel Ángel Moratinos travelled to Paris at the end of the European Council to study the situation in the Gaza strip with his French and Egyptian counterparts.

At a working dinner with his French colleague, Bernard Kouchner, and the Egyptian, Ahmed Abul Gheit, the head of Spanish diplomacy planned to discuss how the EU might collaborate to make life easier for the residents of Gaza who are living with the Israeli blockade.