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EU foreign policy chief urges immediate Gaza rebuilding

Source: Xinhua | November 9, 2014, Sunday | Online Edition

European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini visited the Gaza Strip on Saturday, and called for an immediate start of the reconstruction in the coastal enclave.

Mogherini arrived in the Gaza Strip through Erez crossing point on border between Israel and the enclave's northern tip, where she visited Sheja'eya neighborhood in Gaza city.

Hundreds of houses were either completely destroyed or badly damaged in Sheja'eya during the 50-day large-scale Israeli air and ground military offensive waged on the Gaza Strip, which ended on Aug. 26.

Mogherini met with the owners of the destroyed houses in the neighborhood and listened to their suffering. The residents urged her to help speed up the reconstruction of their homes before a heavy winter comes.

The top EU diplomat also visited al-Bahrain school, which is run by the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) in western Gaza city, which shelters hundreds of displaced residents who had their homes destroyed.

Mogherini told a short news briefing at the UNRWA school after she entered into classrooms, which are inhabited by men, women and children, that the rebuilding process in the Gaza Strip should start as soon as possible.

She also called for an end to the Israeli blockade which has been imposed on the Gaza Strip since Hamas violently took over the enclave in the summer of 2007.

"We need a Palestinian state; that is the ultimate goal and is the position of all the European Union," said Mogherini, who urged an end to the growing violence and tension in the region and return to peace talks.

The growing violence and tension between Israel and the Palestinians as well as a growing internal Palestinian dispute between Palestinian rivals is slowing down an end to the Israeli blockade and a start of the reconstruction in Gaza.

Mogherini met in Gaza city with four ministers in the Palestinian unity government. She didn't meet with any of Hamas rulers, but called for empowering the unity government and help it to perform correctly.

Later, Mogherini left the Gaza Strip and returned to Jerusalem. She met on Friday with Israeli officials and called on them to get back to peace and help establish a Palestinian state.

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