Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, noted the particularly tense and fragile state of relations between Fatah and Hamas.
BY Tova Lazaeroff, JPOST
The Palestinian Authority must control the Gaza Strip and the area must be part of a future Palestinian state, the European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Tuesday.“We see it very clearly: The West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza belong together. There is no State of Palestine without Gaza, nor with Gaza alone,” Mogherini said in advance of a Brussels meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee that handles donor funds to the Palestinians.
“This is why we expect all Palestinian factions to defy the spoilers and continue on the path of reconciliation, with courage and determination,” Mogherini said.
She noted the particularly tense and fragile state of relations between Fatah and Hamas.
In a televised address from Ramallah on Monday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas charged that Hamas had attempted to assassinate PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah by blowing up a vehicle in his convoy during a Gaza visit last week.
Abbas in turn has increasingly reduced funding to Gaza, in an attempt to force Hamas to end its decade long control of the Strip.
In Brussels, Mogherini told reporters, “The speech in Ramallah yesterday shows how fragile it is. I would hope that this will not halt the process further, when we should be looking all together for ways to take it forward.”
Gaza’s “economic outlook will most likely remain bleak without a clear progress towards reunification of the West Bank and Gaza,” she said.
Palestinian unity is also “an important element for reaching the two-state solution,” Mogherini said.
“There is – again, I would like to state it – no realistic alternative to the two-state solution and there is no alternative to the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza,” Mogherini said.
Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Joan Polaschik told the AHLC meeting that the return of the PA to Gaza would allow for economic rehabilitation and improve security for the Strip’s two border countries, Israel and Egypt.
“We view the Palestinian Authority as the legitimate governing body in Gaza,” Polaschik said.
“Hamas’s continued control of Gaza remains our biggest challenge,” Polaschik said as he accused the group of diverting development and assistance aid to perpetuate violence against Israel.
In addition, “Hamas continues to hold the missing Israeli soldiers and civilians, who must be returned,” Polaschik said.
“So let’s be clear: Hamas and its commitment to violence is the primary obstacle to rapidly improving the lives of the people of Gaza,” Polaschik said.
“We must be careful that our efforts do not do anything to empower Hamas,” said Polaschik. He added, “the goal here is to not let Hamas off the hook and create a situation similar to what exists in Lebanon today.”
“Despite the efforts of the international community, the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip has worsened over the past year,” Polaschik said.
“Nearly every indicator is on the decline. Electricity remains scarce. Hospitals cannot meet demand. Poverty and food insecurity are growing,” Polaschik said.
“This situation must be addressed from a humanitarian perspective. It also poses a significant threat to Israel and Egypt, and potentially to regional security,” he added.
The Ad Hoc Liaison Committee which met in Brussels on Tuesday, holds such donor gathering twice a year, in the spring and the fall.
But on January 31, the group also held a special meeting on the deteriorating economic and humanitarian situation in Gaza that brought together high-level representatives such as US special envoy Jason Greenblatt, Israeli Minister for Regional Cooperation Minister Tzahi HaNegbi and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.
All three countries sent a stepped down representation to Tuesday’s gathering.
The meeting was chaired by Norway and hosted by the EU. The 15 member committee also includes: Israel, the Palestinian Authority, the United States, Canada, Egypt, Japan, Jordan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
@ david melech:
I remember Monolulu….”I gotta horse”…Who was the guy who always advertised in the English Newspapers. May have been employed by them. Maybe the Telegraph or Times can’t recall. We used to get it every week.
Edgar Wallace wrote a series of 3-4 absolutely hilarious books about a race tipster. It’s called Educated Evans. You should look it up, they are a genuine howl. especially if you know the English racing world.
Edgar G. Said:
is this the real prince monolulu?? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Monolulu
Mogherini is an idealist, the Middle East is entirely out of the field of her understanding.
Not one of her conditions for peace can be attained.
But it matters not what she says, even if all the EU diplomats agree with her.
The EU is irrelevant, it is drowning in the results of its multicultural self-imposed blindness: the unopposed Muslim invasion. How stupid the Muslim invaders are: why do they try to impose their ideas by force? If they would have stayed peaceful, just having children, in a decade or two they will be the determining factor in European politics. Now it seems the indigenous Europeans are finally waking up, and there will probably be a terrible civil war.
@ Roberto Edery:
Regardless of whosoever “rules” in Gaza, Hamas is going nowhere…where will they go…? they will be still there, doubtless organised, with stacks of weapons hidden.
The EU forgets…or does it..?? that the first -and last -elections were held about 12 years ago and Hamas overwhelmingly won. When the PA refused to allow them to take their precedence, a mini civil war broke out, and Hamas disposed of many of their irritating PA bureaucrats in Gaza by killing them in various ways, including, as we all saw in videos, throwing them off high buildings.
As for East Jerusalem, there is NO East Jerusalem except as a designation, and the City of Jerusalem is just one city with an east and west, as well as a north and south, just like every other city. And it’s the Capital of the Sovereign State of Israel.
The EU and other Jew hating fools, have been subsidising murder tor many years by knowing that their money is going to incite murder of Jews,and that The PA pays about $350 mill a year to terrorists and their families, many for life, depending on how many Jews they’ve killed and etc. That the PA, as long as it lasts, will always be expensive-upkeep beggars.
What civilised society would knowingly allow and pay for this, unless driven by extreme hate…?? Europe, that’s who…. and I haven’t yet read about any meetings their machers have had about stopping it. The only ones taking action are the Trump White House.
If we are lucky, the Muslims will have piled more millions into Europe soon enough that there will be no more EU, only raging Civil Wars in almost every European country. When it dies down,maybe in about 50 years, by then Israel and it’s allies will be in a position of such strength that they will be able to face and defeat Europe, be it Muslim or Christian, should it decide to become aggressive against Israel. This might be when the first mini-nuclear, low-yield bombs will be used.
At least they will be prominently waved around as a potential threat. So the future I see is that Israel will always need it’s very highly trained army, equipped with the most advanced weaponry and technology, to deter enemies that will never go away. The “Light unto the Nations” will continue to be that Light, since Jews are softies where humanity is concerned, but will always be “A Nation Alone”…..but with strong allies, P.G.
After all this, mainly just thinking in text,, I hope that nobody thinks I might be able to forecast the winner of the next Grand National at Aintree…Although If they wish to send $25 for a guess, $50 for a sure thing, $100 for a certainty, or $500 for a definite winner, I won’t say no…..!!.
Hey, but there’s SOMETHING good in all that. I had to read twice to be certain: the EU wants Hamas completely OUT! It’s almost unbelievable. But also comforting, since we all know that won’t ever happen – unless there is an all-out armed invasion. And Jerusalem won’t happen either, so we can rest at ease and enjoy this wonderful year. We have the US Embassy, the end of the “peace process” – and possibly the defunding of the PA. What’s missing? Only the annexation of Area C to achieve the perfect score.
“So let’s be clear: Hamas and its commitment to violence is the primary obstacle to rapidly improving the lives of the people of Gaza,” Polaschik said.
No. The Palestinian Authority’s incitement to violence and payment to terrorists is the primary obstacle to rapidly improving the lives of the so-called Palestinian people.
EU has decided what Israel’s borders will be without any input from Israel, how nice of them. They need to grasp reality that Israel has a veto on this and does not agree to a PA terror state.
Since when does EU make policy for Israel?
Federica Mogherini can shoot herself in the head for all I care. She is a Communist of the worst kind.