It is hardly possible to spur on peace settlement without ending the blockade of Gaza and terrorist acts against Israeli civilians, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a telephone conference of the international mediating quartet on Friday.
"It is hardly possible to make real progress towards peace without the soonest lift of the blockade of the sector, an improvement of living conditions on all the lands of the Palestinian National Authority, and the end of terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians," Lavrov was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.
"It is important to overcome the Palestinian split, which complicates the achievement of agreements on key issues of the Israeli-Palestinian agenda," he said.
A real move towards peace would not be possible while Israel continues blockading food and fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip, and Palestine carries out almost daily rocket attacks on Israeli border regions, Lavrov was quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency as saying during a telephone conference of the Middle East Quartet of mediators -- the United States, Russia, the UN and the European Union.
Lavrov also said the restoration of Palestinian unity was needed for Israelis and Palestinians to agree on key issues of mutual interest.
Other participants in the conference were UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Foreign Minister of Slovenia that currently chairs the European Union Dimitrij Rupel, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, European Commissioner for External Relations and Neighborhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner and the quartet's special representative Tony Blair.
The sides discussed the progress of the Israeli-Palestinian dialog and the situation on Palestinian lands, especially, Gaza. They said that the humanitarian and socioeconomic situation was critical.
The quartet agreed to continue discussions, including the one on a new Middle East forum, for the sake of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement and lasting, fair and comprehensive regional peace.
Source: Xinhua
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