Ramallah, March 25: Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s (EU) high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said that the EU supports the Gaza reconstruction plan approved by an emergency Arab summit earlier this month.
During a press conference after her meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, Kallas said that she “discussed with the prime minister the Arab plan for Gaza, which the EU strongly supports,” and that the EU “will have a role in the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.”
The EU believes that “the Palestinian Authority should govern Gaza,” and will “provide support to the Palestinian government to assist it in assuming its duties in the Strip,” Kallas said.
“The EU’s relationship with Palestine is growing stronger, and in less than a month, a high-level political dialogue will be held in Brussels for the first time with Palestine, which will be an important basis for strengthening cooperation on multiple levels for years to come,” she said. Kallas also condemned Israeli actions in the West Bank, saying they “are destroying the two-state solution, which is the only path to sustainable peace.”
Mustafa described Israel’s renewed assault on Gaza as “grave violations of international law and the rights of the Palestinian people,” and urged continued international pressure on Israel to end its assault, while ensuring accountability for its actions, Xinhua news agency reported.
He also called for support from the EU to rebuild Gaza. Also on Monday, Kallas met separately with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, during which Abbas stressed the need to open the border crossings to allow the urgent entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, to ensure that the State of Palestine assumes its full responsibilities in the enclave, and to secure a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Strip, Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.
Since March 2, Israel has cut off the entry of all lifesaving supplies, including food, medicines, fuel, and cooking gas, into Gaza. It has also cut power to southern Gaza’s desalination plant, limiting access to clean water for some 600,000 people.
On March 18, Israel resumed strikes in Gaza after its ceasefire deal with Hamas that began on January 19 unraveled. Israeli troops later launched ground operations in southern, northern, and central Gaza. According to Gaza-based health authorities, the death toll from the renewed Israeli assault on the enclave has topped 730.
IANS