Palestinian President Abbas said yesterday that the Israeli measures to ease the siege on Gaza Strip is not enough; Abbas condemned the firing of the "useless" rockets that are launched from Gaza Strip on Israel. Israel allowed yesterday partial supplies of fuel and food items into Gaza Strip. Following a meeting with Dutch FM, President Abbas said the Israelis agreed last night to provide Gaza Strip with some fuel supplies but this is not enough; our efforts will continue to end the siege. The people in Gaza Strip are not the ones who fire the rockets and we have condemned the firing of rockets and we will continue to condemn these useless rockets which don’t assist and have to stop. I say it very clearly that Israel closes the crossings and the rockets give Israel an excuse to close the crossings. He affirmed once again that the PA is ready to assume control over the borders to end the siege but there is a party that does not want the people to live a normal life; we want the opening of the crossings to ease the lives of the citizens and to allow the movement of individuals and goods. We don’t want to see the people get punished for their steadfastness. Abbas also expressed rejection to the military operations against the Palestinian citizens; he said such operations obstruct the peace process and we explained this to the Israelis and to the international community and to US President Bush during his visit to the region. At the same time, I don’t want to reward any party that obstructs the peace process. He stressed on the need to continue with the negotiations and contacts with Israel. We have to intensify the contacts and meetings to stop the suffering of our people. How can we convince the second party (Israel) that our people are suffering if we say no to dialogue with Israel? The negotiations have to continue and we need to reach a solution that satisfies our people and meets the national demands.

In the meantime, Spanish PM met yesterday with Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad and expressed concern regarding the situation in Gaza Strip. Fayyad expressed grave concern regarding the situation in Gaza Strip and demanded from the international community to exert more pressure towards reaching a peaceful settlement between the Israelis and Palestinians. He demanded that Palestinians assume control over the border crossings of the Palestinian lands. Fayyad had announced from London yesterday that peace negotiations with Israel continue despite the unbearable situation in Gaza Strip.

Published at Al Ayyam and Al Hayat al Jadida NewsPapers on January 23, 2008