EU Halts Upgrade Of Ties To Israel

[Purveyor]

Source: Financial Times

The European Union called a halt on Wednesday to plans to upgrade diplomatic and economic ties with Israel, as Egypt stepped up efforts to secure a 10-day ceasefire to provide a first step to ending the Gaza war.

In the latest sign of the international backlash against Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip, which has left more than 1,000 Palestinians dead, Ramiro Cibrian-Uzal, head of a European Commission delegation to Israel, said upgrading ties at a time when Israel was “using its war means in a very dramatic, in a powerful way in Gaza” was “not appropriate”.

The EU move came as Egyptian officials said they had made progress in talks with a delegation from Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip, and suggested that the strategy was to reach a 10-day ceasefire.

Hamas has been seeking changes to the initiative launched by Cairo last week, which calls for a temporary ceasefire and talks on how to end the blockade of Gaza and prevent the Islamist group from rearming.

Hamas officials said they had given their views on the initiative and expected Egypt to discuss them with Israel. But an Egyptian official said the positions of Cairo and Hamas were narrowing.

Read more: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5f01e520-e278-11dd-b1dd-0000779fd2ac.html

[okiru109]

1. good move

this state terrorism must be confronted.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Didn't Israel want to join the EU?

If so, the application is probably at the bottom of the pile for the timebeing.

[MindMatter]

3. Simple question. When does Israel have to agree to "conditions"?

I have been hearing all morning about how magnanimous Israel is. The Palestinians can have peace but only if they agree unconditionally to a set of conditions laid out by Israel. These conditions amount to a permanent codification of the prison state that is the Gaza strip. The implication is that if the Gaza people don't agree to be imprisoned forever with no means of self defense, Israel will simply keep murdering them until they capitulate.

Why is there never a list of conditions that Israel has to meet? Why is this always a one-way street?