EGYPT: EU concerned over Israeli-Palestinian violence

The European Union's Foreign Policy chief, Javier Solana, says the EU is trying to find ways to help calm tensions in Gaza and in Lebanon. The EU's Foreign Policy chief, Javier Solana, said on Tuesday (May 22) that the European Union is trying to find ways to help calm tensions in Gaza and in Lebanon. Israeli raids on Gaza and internal Palestinian fighting have intensified in the last week in Gaza and fighting between the Lebanese army and alleged al-Qaeda affiliated militants at a Palestinian refugee camp has caused dozens of casualties. Solana, who is touring the region and met with the head of the Cairo-based Arab League on Tuesday, told reporters that he was meeting with all sides during his visit and still hoped that the situation could be brought under control so that Arab-Israeli peace negotiations could begin. A fragile ceasefire was reported to be holding in Lebanon with at least 22 militants, 32 soldiers and 27 civilians have been killed since Sunday in Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war. Thousands of Palestinian refugees are reported to have fled the fighting, with some observers accusing the Lebanese army of indiscriminately shelling the refugee camp. Solana, who visited Lebanon and Israel prior to coming to Cairo, said that tentative peace moves had been interrupted by events on the ground. "This week a good number of things have taken place that we have to see how they can be controlled. The situation in Gaza that has deteriorated in a clear manner and the situation also in Lebanon," he said. Arab governments on Tuesday promised military assistance for the Lebanese army at a special meeting called to discuss the ongoing conflict, though League head Amr Moussa declined to give details of the deal. The Lebanese army has been fighting a small militant group which calls itself Fatah al-Islam, based in the Palestinian refugee camp at Nahr el-Bared near the northern city of Tripoli. After meeting Solana , Moussa said he hoped mediation efforts would lead to a ceasefire. "We hope that a ceasefire, a kind of understanding that would keep both or all sides away from shooting at each other would be very much in order, and very much needed in order to pave the way for more understandings," he said. Israel on Tuesday said it could target Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas for assassination and that a Gaza ground offensive was an option unless world pressure was brought on the Islamist group to halt rocket fire. Israeli air strikes over the past week have killed at least 34 Palestinians, medical officials said in Gaza. Militant groups said 23 of the dead were fighters. During the same period fighting between Hamas and fighters from the Fatah faction of President Mahmoud Abbas has killed dozens of Palestinians. Solana said the EU rejected Israel's long-standing policy of assassinating Palestinian political and military leaders. "The second thing you ask is about the targeted killings. We have said every time that this question is posed to me that we don't accept that procedure. This is not something which is extra-judicial which we can accept," he said. The Israeli army said about 150 rockets have been fired from Gaza in a week in which Hamas turned to attacks against Israel, accusing Israel of aiding its rival. A woman was killed on Monday (May 21) in the Israeli town of Sderot, the first fatality in a Palestinian rocket attack since November. Hamas, which was democratically elected in January 2006, formed a unity government with Fatah in March, in the hopes of ending a western aid embargo that has crippled the Palestinian economy and led to a humanitarian crisis. The embargo has been led by the United States and Israel, who have refused to deal with Hamas until it renounces violence and recognizes Israel - conditions the group says it will meet once Israel reciprocates. On Wednesday (May 23), Solana will meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Solana will then travel back to Israel to meet with Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

ITN Source | May 23, 2007

Tags:. .unity. .tentative. .refugees. .abbas. .casualties