Greatly harming civilians:

Israeli Gaza blockade unacceptable: UN

USA: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said Monday that the decision of Israel to keep the Gaza Strip under a blockade, preventing humanitarian aid to the population in that Palestinian territory, is “totally unacceptable.”

“I am convinced that the policy of keeping Gaza under blockade does not weaken the contenders of Israel in that territory, and is greatly harming civilians,” Ban Ki Moon stated.

Ban spoke at the inauguration of a meeting for Foreign Affairs Ministers of the 15 member countries of the UN Security Council to discuss the resumption of the peace process for a fair solution of the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

The dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians was started after a summit that was held in the US city of Annapolis in November 2007, and was interrupted by the Israeli attacks against Gaza for 22 days in December 2008 and January 2009.

Neither Israel nor Palestine are represented in this meeting, presided by Russian Foreign Minister Serguei Lavrov, as Russia is in charge of the direction of the UN Security Council this month.

Ban condemned the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and urged the government of Tel Aviv to change its policy of constructing Jewish settlements in eastern Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Ban said the future actions of Israel on such crucial topics as Jerusalem, the refugees and the closing of borders, will show the real commitment of Israel to a solution based on the existence of two nations. Lavrov said in the opening session in the Security Council that the most important thing “is reopening the peace process, not starting from zero, and taking advantage of the steps made before.”

Lavrov endorsed the Arab peace initiative, and warned that the road to a Middle East without occupation and terrorism is fraught with difficulties.

The meeting held Monday at the Security Council began full of uncertainty because of the decision of Israeli right wing political party Likud leader and President, Benjam¡n Netanyahu, to relegate to the background the peace process with Palestine.

United Nations, Prensa Latina