EU REJECTS SETTLEMENT ACTIVITIES IN WEST BANK

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah. Photo: MEMO

Ramallah, 17 Muharram 1436/10 November 2014 (MINA) – European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Saturday reiterated the rejection of the EU to continued Israeli settlement activities in the occupied West Bank.

She said during a press conference in Ramallah with Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah that growing tensions in Jerusalem were unacceptable.

“The city ought to serve as the capital of both the Palestinian and Israeli states,” she said, Middle East Monitor quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Mogherini underlined the need for establishing an independent Palestinian state, saying this was a serious demand of all European Union countries.

She said she had delivered a note about this demand to both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

The European official pledged continued European financial and moral support for the Palestinian national unity government with the aim of helping it carry out its duties toward Palestinian citizens in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Earlier on Saturday, Mogherini paid a visit to the Gaza Strip, which still suffers from the ramifications of the recent Israeli offensive on it.

She pledged European support for the Palestinian territory, one that could speed up its reconstruction.

Mogherini said she and her colleagues in the E.U. worked hard to speed up the reconstruction of Gaza, noting that they would do everything possible to help Gaza’s children who were born at refugee centers in schools and also help displaced Gazans go back to their homes.

More than 100,000 people are displaced across the Gaza Strip, including 50,000 who live in UNRWA facilities, according to United Nations figures.

Apart from killing more than 2,157 people and injuring more than 11,000 others, the latest Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip left 9,000 Palestinian homes in total ruin and 8,000 others in partial ruin, according to the Palestinian Housing and Works Ministry.

The offensive, which started in early July, came to an end on August 26 after Palestinian factions signed a cease-fire with Israel.

Mogherini said the only way the suffering of the people of the Gaza Strip could be brought to an end was for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to be ended and a Palestinian state be established to live in peace side by side with the state of Israel.(T/P008/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)