JERUSALEM-BRUSSELS (EJP)---Javier Solana, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, condemned Monday the Qassam rocket attack from Gaza on a kindergarten school in the Israeli southern city of Sderot.
Speaking at a press conference after meeting Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Jerusalem, Solana, who is on a new Middle East trip, declared: "I would like to offer my solidarity to the people of Sderot and I condemn the rocket attack on a school today".
“I was there with the minister not long ago and we were welcomed together there, and I know what it means. And to see Sderot again today - once again, seeing the same spirit of the people of Sderot, particularly the kids in the schools. I think that this is something that I have to condemn,” he added.
Asked about EU support for Israeli operations in Gaza to stop the rockets, Solana, whose official title is EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), said: "Israel has our solidarity in fighting terrorism. We have continued to search for efficient measures against terrorism. Sometimes we do not agree 100% on exactly how to combat it but we offer our full solidarity with Israel in it’s efforts to fight terroris. Israel knows that you have it.”
Solana’s trip is aimed at preparing the EU for an intensive period of activity in the coming months and at restarting the peace process.
He pointed to the meeting of the ad hoc liaison committee and the Quartet meeting during the UN General Assembly week later this month in New York and the international conference to take place in the late autumn probably in Washington.
This conference was called for by US President George Bush as part of efforts to jumpstart the dormant peace process in the wake of the takeover of Gaza by Hamas in mid-June.
Solana said: "We don’t know exactly when the conference will take place but it must be a success. We can not allow it to fail and we must therefore define success".
The EU would help and cooperate as much as possible in the preparations of the event, he added.
Hamas
Asked about the possibility of contacts with Hamas, Solana reiterated the EU’s position that “there will not be any contacts between the EU and Hamas”.
“The official policy of the European Union has not changed and continues to be the same. We do not have contact with Hamas and we continue to maintain that policy - as members of the European Union and as members of the Quartet also.
This position is not new and we have maintained it for a long time,” he added.
After a visit in Jordan on Monday where he had talks with Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdel Ilah Khatib, Solana was due to have talks Tuesday in Lebanon and Egypt.
He is due to report on his meetings at an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Portugal on September 9.