EU leaders: Palestine at heart of Middle East crises
Palestine-European Union, Politics, 12/16/2006

Leaders of the 25-member European Union on Friday expressing concern that the Middle East "is faced with one of the worst crises in years.

"The Israeli-Arab conflict is at the heart of this crisis, said the European Council - which represents the EU leaders- in its conclusions.

The Council endorsed a further three-month extension of the Temporary International Mechanism to provide aid to Palestinians until March 2007.

Also, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned that the situation in the Palestinian territory is "more dangerous than it has been for a very long time."

In a message to Asian meeting in support of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and delivered by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Angela Kane, Annan said that "mistrust between Israelis and Palestinians has reached new heights," adding that the international community should shoulder its responsibility to help promote a negotiated two-State solution.

"The Gaza Strip has become a cauldron of deepening poverty and frustration, despite the withdrawal of Israeli troops and settlements last year. In the West Bank, too, the situation is dire. Palestinians are deeply dismayed at settlement activity, with thousands of Israelis still living in territories occupied in 1967 and more than 1,000 more added every month," he said.

He noted the impact on the Palestinians of the barrier that Israel is building through their land in the West Bank, in breach of an Advisory Opinion of from the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ), as well as over 500 checkpoints controlling their movement, factors that increase their suffering, despair.

Previous Stories:
  Abbas claims Palestinian national dialogue talks fail   (12/2/2006)
  EU: Israeli military operation in Beit Hanoun unacceptable   (11/13/2006)
  Human Rights group calls on EU to revise economic strangulation of Palestinians   (10/19/2006)

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