UNITED NATIONS: Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority must develop a new strategy to secure the lifting of the blockade of the Gaza Strip and an end to rocket firing into southern Israel, a top UN official said Tuesday. After concluding his first briefing of the Security Council, UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process Robert Serry told reporters that the situation in Gaza is unsustainable, unacceptable and needs to be addressed. He said the three parties must come up with a plan for ending the rocket firing and suicide attacks on southern Israel and meeting the humanitarian needs of Gaza s population through the reopening of closed crossing points and the unfettered provision of essential goods and services. Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that his country would maintain the tighter blockade it has imposed on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip since last month in a bid to stop militant rocket attacks on its territory. Despite Israeli denials, Serry, who was appointed to his post last December, on Tuesday reiterated that the Israeli siege of Gaza amounts to collective punishment of the territory s 1.5 million Palestinians. He also chided Hamas for not acting with sufficient determination to end rocket firing by Gaza-based militants on southern Israel. And he expressed concern about reports of outside militant groups now gaining a foothold in Gaza but did not elaborate. Turning to the West Bank, Serry warned that the imposing presence of (Israel s separation) barrier, the expanding (Israeli) settlements, the unremoved outposts, the system of closure and constant military incursions have grave implications for the human rights, economic life and social fabric of the entire population. Israel says the massive barrier, made of electric fencing, barbed wire and concrete walls, is needed to stop potential attackers from infiltrating the country and Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Palestinians have denounced it as an apartheid wall aimed at grabbing their land and undermining the viability of their promised state. Meanwhile, UN emergency relief coordinator John Holmes also briefed the 15-member council on his recent tour of the West Bank and Gaza as well as his visit to the Israeli town of Sderot which is under a continuing barrage of Qassam rockets from Gaza. He scolded both Hamas and Israel for a situation which he described as not sustainable and extremely damaging to the prospects for the current peace process. Hamas, which claims to govern the Gaza Strip, must accept its full share of responsibility for the suffering in Gaza, Holmes said, urging the militant group to act to stop the rocket firing immediately. And while acknowledging Israel s legitimate security concerns and a right and duty to defend its citizens, he pointedly added: Security cannot override all other concerns or justify so much damage to ordinary people s livelihoods and infringement of their human dignity and human rights.
