A top EU official expressed concern on Monday about Israel's economic sanctions on the Gaza Strip, urging restraint and saying the measures could bolster extremists in the Hamas-run territory.
"I have mentioned these concerns openly in all my discussions," External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told a news conference following talks with top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
"There are indeed real, humanitarian concerns. We do not want the population to suffer. On the other hand I must say that we understand the very, very difficult situation of the Israelis," she said.
"There are Qassam rockets coming into the territory of Israel nearly every day in order to either kill people or injure people or distress people," she added, referring to the home-made rockets launched by Palestinian militants. Ferrero-Waldner nevertheless said she hoped Israel would show "great restraint" in its actions towards the increasingly isolated coastal strip.
On Sunday, Israel began restricting fuel shipments to Gaza after declaring the territory a "hostile entity" on September 19 following a bloody take-over in June that saw the radical Islamist Hamas seize control.
Both the EU and the United States froze aid to Gaza following the Islamist Hamas movement's electoral victory in February 2006, and since its complete seizure of power in June Israel has closed it off to all but vital goods.
But Ferrero-Waldner said a further deterioration of conditions in Gaza could increase the Islamist movement's power by hurting the local population. "We think that a deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Strip will only aggravate the consequences for the local population and this will indeed play into the hands of the more radical people," she said.
Ferrero-Waldner adopted a "very hard line" over the government's decision during a meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres, his office said. "Europe should understand that the sanctions imposed on Gaza are a direct consequence of Hamas murders and acts of terrorism," Peres responded, according to his office. Ferror-Waldner was due to dine with Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Monday evening.
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