European leaders are keeping up the diplomatic pressure on Palestinians to set aside political divisions in a bid for lasting Middle East peace. The European Union's top diplomat will travel to the region Monday. European Union foreign ministers said they want to see Hamas and the Palestinian Authority to forge a consensus government that will re-open border crossings and restart a Middle East peace process. European leaders hosted Palestinian, Egyptian, Jordanian and Turkish officials on Sunday, Jan. 25, in Brussels. Europe hosted Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni last week and will send EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana to the Middle East on Monday in a bid to bolster the Gaza ceasefire. "It is time for the Palestinians to start talking to each other," Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said. "If we can't overcome the division in the Palestinian society, it will be very difficult to move forward both with Gaza and the peace process."
European Union foreign ministers said they want to see Hamas and the Palestinian Authority to forge a consensus government that will re-open border crossings and restart a Middle East peace process.
European leaders hosted Palestinian, Egyptian, Jordanian and Turkish officials on Sunday, Jan. 25, in Brussels. Europe hosted Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni last week and will send EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana to the Middle East on Monday in a bid to bolster the Gaza ceasefire.
"It is time for the Palestinians to start talking to each other," Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said. "If we can't overcome the division in the Palestinian society, it will be very difficult to move forward both with Gaza and the peace process."
The European Commission announced Monday, Jan. 26, that it was providing 58 million euros ($74.3 million) in humanitarian aid to vulnerable Palestinians this year. In a statement, EU Aid Commissioner Louis Michel said around 32 million euros would be earmarked for Gaza, which suffered massive damage during a three-week bombing campaign by Israel. An additional 20 million euros are to go to the West Bank, with the remaining six million destined for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. "This funding package of 58 million euros will contribute substantially to the international effort on behalf of these suffering people and will also sustain our ongoing solidarity with the entire Palestinian population," Michel said. Calling the situation in Gaza "catastrophic," he said the strip's civilian population of nearly 1.5 million had faced "terrible and unprecedented" suffering compared to past times of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "Destruction on such a massive scale saddens me deeply," Michel said during a fact-finding visit to the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, EU Aid Commissioner Louis Michel said around 32 million euros would be earmarked for Gaza, which suffered massive damage during a three-week bombing campaign by Israel.
An additional 20 million euros are to go to the West Bank, with the remaining six million destined for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
"This funding package of 58 million euros will contribute substantially to the international effort on behalf of these suffering people and will also sustain our ongoing solidarity with the entire Palestinian population," Michel said.
Calling the situation in Gaza "catastrophic," he said the strip's civilian population of nearly 1.5 million had faced "terrible and unprecedented" suffering compared to past times of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"Destruction on such a massive scale saddens me deeply," Michel said during a fact-finding visit to the Gaza Strip.
