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Hans-Gert Poettering, President of the European Parliament, strongly criticised Hamas for ending the ceasefire last December by firing rockets on Israel and called Israel’s reaction “disproportionate”.
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STRASBOURG (EJP)---The President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, expressed “deepest regret” over the escalation of the Gaza conflict between Israel and Hamas and called for an "immediate end to the violence on both sides".
Speaking at the opening of a plenary session of the parliament Monday in Strasbourg, France, Poettering, declared: "It is not acceptable for people to continue to suffer, for violence to continue, and now United Nations staff are under fire. How far must the spiral of violence continue before commonsense and reason gain the upper-hand?" he asked.
Poettering, a German Christian-Democrat, strongly criticised Hamas for ending the ceasefire last December by firing rockets on Israe and called Israel’s reaction “disproportionate”.
"A state's inviolable right to protect itself does not justify violent acts which affect first and foremost civilian populations," he said.
Poettering stated that the European Parliament "stands right behind the calls expressed by the European Council of Ministers as confirmed by the UN resolution of 8 January, 2008. This legally binding resolution is not being respected by either side - Hamas and Israel".
He added: "The peace process must be resumed and intensified. There needs to be a two-state solution with Israel and Palestine as two sovereign states in secure borders. Together with the Quartet, the Moderate Arab Partners and the parties in conflict, the European union, under the aegis of the United Nations, must bring about a rapid resumption of the peace negotiations."
| Hans-Gert Poettering, President of the European Parliament. |
 A state's inviolable right to protect itself does not justify violent acts which affect first and foremost civilian populations.
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eace in the Middle East cannot be solved solely by the region itself. The international community must be ready, more than ever before to promote peace, in the Middle East, in order for the bitter events of the past decades not to be perpetuated into forthcoming decades.”
The French-Egyptian plan to set up international mechanism to secure the Gaza borders must be a success. "At the beginning of the Annapolis process, the European Union already announced in its strategic paper that it was prepared to get involved, and contribute its commitment".
He stressed that any deployment of international security forces must be part of "an overall political objective" which creates trust, enables peace negotiations to take place, and guarantees "equal security for Israel and the Palestinians".
"As responsible politicians we must contribute resolutely to a lasting exit from the spiralling violence," he concluded.
The European Parliament will debate the situation in Gaza and Israel on Wednesday and vote on a resolution on Thursday.