First high-ranking EU official tours Gaza as militants attack Israel with rocket
First high-ranking EU official tours Gaza as militants attack Israel with rocket
10:04, March 19, 2010 
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by Saud Abu Ramadan, Emad Drimly
Catherine Ashton, the new European Union (EU) Foreign Policy Chief, on Thursday visited the Gaza Strip for several hours, as a radical militant group fired a homemade rocket at southern Israel killing a foreign worker.
Ashton arrived in the blockaded strip before noon on Thursday through Erez border crossing point between northern Gaza Strip and Israel. She was escorted by UN vehicles.
It is the first visit of a very senior EU official to the Gaza Strip since Hamas' rule in mid-2007.
Israel has been imposing a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip right after Islamic Hamas movement seized control of the impoverished enclave by force in June 2007 by routing President Abbas security forces. However, Israel eased the blockade and allowed some kinds of food products of humanitarian aid.
"I wanted to say how important it is for me to be here in Gaza, " Ashton told a news conference at a food distributing center run by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza Strip.
"It will also inform my discussions with the Quartet when I arrive in Moscow," she added.
The Middle East Quartet, which groups the European Union, the United Nations, the United States and Russia, will convene in Russia on Friday to discuss the situation in the Middle East region.
"I came here to meet the UN officials in Gaza," Ashton told reporters, adding that she highly appreciated their efforts and the aid programs they offer to the Gaza Strip population to help them minimize their suffering.
She expressed hope that "the result of my visit will be able to continue to support -- and others will join us in trying to support -- the aid that needs to find its way through to Gaza."
Ashton visited an elementary school in northern Gaza town of Beit Lahia and a food distribution center in Jabaliya that belongs to the United Nations. She said she is amazed to see Gaza children "who have an amazing eagerness to continue their education."
The senior EU official also visited the area damaged during Israel's 22-day major military offensive dubbed Operation Cast Lead. More than 1,400 people in Gaza were killed and thousands of constructions were destroyed.
Ashton, who met on Wednesday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, said earlier this week that she will visit the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas, to know how the European aid is delivered and to make sure that the EU aid go to the right place and the right people.
There are no official or diplomatic ties between the European Union and Hamas movement, which rejects the recognition of Israel.
The EU official's visit coincided with a rocket attack. A Gaza- based radical group, which belongs to the salafist Sunni Moslems, claimed responsibility on Thursday of firing a rocket into southern Israel that killed a foreign worker.
Israeli media reported that a Thai working in a greenhouse at a farm was killed due to fatal wounds he sustained by the rocket.
Jund Anssar Al-Sunna (Soldiers of Sunna Supporters) said in a message sent to reporters that it fired a homemade rocket from northern Gaza Strip into Israel's coastal city of Ashkelon.
The radical Islamic group failed to explain the reason behind firing the rocket, but it is widely considered related to tension in East Jerusalem where clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians have taken place recently.
The group is one of a handful of pro-Al-Qaida organizations that started operating in Gaza when Islamic Hamas movement took over the coastal enclave in 2007. However, Hamas' policy, which adopts medial Islam, is at odds with the guidelines of these groups.
In August 2009 when a Jihadi Salafist leader defied Hamas and declared an Islamic emirate in Gaza, Hamas launched a crackdown on supporters and members of the pro-Al-Qaida groups.
Hamas has been maintaining a shaky, unofficial ceasefire with Israel since the end of the Israeli military offensive in Gaza in January 2009.
Following Thursday's rocket attack, Hamas movement evacuated all the police and security forces from several buildings in the Gaza Strip aim fears of an immediate Israeli retaliation. Israeli F-16 warplanes hovered over the Gaza Strip shortly after the attack.
Source: Xinhua
Catherine Ashton, the new European Union (EU) Foreign Policy Chief, on Thursday visited the Gaza Strip for several hours, as a radical militant group fired a homemade rocket at southern Israel killing a foreign worker.
Ashton arrived in the blockaded strip before noon on Thursday through Erez border crossing point between northern Gaza Strip and Israel. She was escorted by UN vehicles.
It is the first visit of a very senior EU official to the Gaza Strip since Hamas' rule in mid-2007.
Israel has been imposing a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip right after Islamic Hamas movement seized control of the impoverished enclave by force in June 2007 by routing President Abbas security forces. However, Israel eased the blockade and allowed some kinds of food products of humanitarian aid.
"I wanted to say how important it is for me to be here in Gaza, " Ashton told a news conference at a food distributing center run by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza Strip.
"It will also inform my discussions with the Quartet when I arrive in Moscow," she added.
The Middle East Quartet, which groups the European Union, the United Nations, the United States and Russia, will convene in Russia on Friday to discuss the situation in the Middle East region.
"I came here to meet the UN officials in Gaza," Ashton told reporters, adding that she highly appreciated their efforts and the aid programs they offer to the Gaza Strip population to help them minimize their suffering.
She expressed hope that "the result of my visit will be able to continue to support -- and others will join us in trying to support -- the aid that needs to find its way through to Gaza."
Ashton visited an elementary school in northern Gaza town of Beit Lahia and a food distribution center in Jabaliya that belongs to the United Nations. She said she is amazed to see Gaza children "who have an amazing eagerness to continue their education."
The senior EU official also visited the area damaged during Israel's 22-day major military offensive dubbed Operation Cast Lead. More than 1,400 people in Gaza were killed and thousands of constructions were destroyed.
Ashton, who met on Wednesday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, said earlier this week that she will visit the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas, to know how the European aid is delivered and to make sure that the EU aid go to the right place and the right people.
There are no official or diplomatic ties between the European Union and Hamas movement, which rejects the recognition of Israel.
The EU official's visit coincided with a rocket attack. A Gaza- based radical group, which belongs to the salafist Sunni Moslems, claimed responsibility on Thursday of firing a rocket into southern Israel that killed a foreign worker.
Israeli media reported that a Thai working in a greenhouse at a farm was killed due to fatal wounds he sustained by the rocket.
Jund Anssar Al-Sunna (Soldiers of Sunna Supporters) said in a message sent to reporters that it fired a homemade rocket from northern Gaza Strip into Israel's coastal city of Ashkelon.
The radical Islamic group failed to explain the reason behind firing the rocket, but it is widely considered related to tension in East Jerusalem where clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians have taken place recently.
The group is one of a handful of pro-Al-Qaida organizations that started operating in Gaza when Islamic Hamas movement took over the coastal enclave in 2007. However, Hamas' policy, which adopts medial Islam, is at odds with the guidelines of these groups.
In August 2009 when a Jihadi Salafist leader defied Hamas and declared an Islamic emirate in Gaza, Hamas launched a crackdown on supporters and members of the pro-Al-Qaida groups.
Hamas has been maintaining a shaky, unofficial ceasefire with Israel since the end of the Israeli military offensive in Gaza in January 2009.
Following Thursday's rocket attack, Hamas movement evacuated all the police and security forces from several buildings in the Gaza Strip aim fears of an immediate Israeli retaliation. Israeli F-16 warplanes hovered over the Gaza Strip shortly after the attack.
Source: Xinhua
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