EU Official Calls for Ending Israeli Blockade

A senior European Union (EU) official on Tuesday called on Israel to end its blockade 15-year on the Gaza Strip.
EU Representative to Palestine Sven Kuehn von Burgsdorff said it is in order to facilitate the process of reconstruction in the coastal enclave.

He told a news conference in Gaza city that the reconstruction plan in the Gaza Strip “needs to lift the blockade to enable the populations to move freely and have a free trade’’.
Burgsdorff met with representatives of non-government organisations in the Gaza Strip and then held a news conference near the ruins of al-Jalla high rise that had been bombed and destroyed two weeks ago.

“The EU supports the efforts of reconstruction in Gaza,’’ he said, adding that “Israel should end the blockade, reopen the crossing points and give the populations a free access of movement.’’
A tit-for-tat violent fighting broke out on May 10, between Israel and militant groups led by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip.
However, it ended on May 21.

Egypt brokered a ceasefire that ended the fighting between the two sides, which left more than 250 Palestinians and 12 Israelis killed as well as destruction of infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
“It is necessary to stabilise the ceasefire between the two sides,’’ Burgsdorff said.
He also called for holding the general Palestinian elections and called on Israel to allow holding it in East Jerusalem.