[17/March/2010]

GAZA, March 17 (Saba) -- A leading international relief agency urged EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Wednesday to focus on lifting Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip during her visit to the coastal enclave, according to Xinhua.

In a statement, Oxfam International, which operates in the Palestinian territories, urged Ashton "to make the immediate lifting of the Israeli-imposed blockade her top priority."

Oxfam said the siege, which Israel has been imposing in June 2007, has put Gaza's economy on the verge of collapse and crippled basic water and sanitation services in the impoverished strip.

The statement also said Israel's three-week military campaign on Gaza last winter along with keeping the closure in place have added more suffering to people who could not rebuild their houses due to the lack of construction materials.

The EU, the largest donor to the Palestinians, "has so far failed to match its strong words with action," Oxfam said, referring to an international donors' conference a year ago that had allocated over 4 billion U.S. dollars to rebuild Gaza.

"Little of this money has been spent due to Israel's closure policy," the statement said.
Ashton, who is now on a five-day tour of Middle East hotspots, will be the highest EU diplomat to visit Gaza since the Islamic Hamas movement took over the territory three years ago.

On Thursday, Ashton is scheduled to meet the UN Relief and Works Agency Commissioner-General Filippo Grandi and Palestinian economists and civil society figures. She is not expected to meet Hamas officials or members of its deposed government.

Saba