European Delegations to Gaza

European Union at UN, February 18, 2009 - EU parliament passes resolution calling for damage assessment in Gaza

Maan News, February 23, 2009 - EU Parliament leader and delegation on fact finding mission to Gaza

Kuwait News, February 24, 2009 - Another European Delegation to Visit Gaza - Luisa Morgantini, Vice President of the European Parliament (EP), will be leading a delegation of EU parliamentarians on a visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories from Wednesday till Sunday.

The delegation includes 15 EP Members belonging to different political groups, accompanied by officials, assistants and journalists, Morgantini said in a statement here today.

On Thursday, the delegation will go to Gaza Strip accompanied by UNRWA, the United NationS Agency for Palestinian refugees, to visit hospitals, schools and industrial areas in order to collect firsthand information concerning the destructions perpetrated by the Israeli Army and about the real life-conditions of Palestinians in the Strip.

The MEPs will also have meetings with members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) and with Human Rights organizations in Gaza.

The Italian MEP said she considers "absolutely vital to bring our solidarity to the civilian population which was under military aggression by air, land and sea, and to witness the situation in Gaza in order to report it back to the European Parliament".

The EP delegation is also expected to visit Tel-Aviv, Jaffa, Ramallah, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron, where they will have meetings with the Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and PLC members, with representatives of political and human rights organizations and Israeli and Palestinian NGOs in the West Bank, as well as with Members of the Israeli Knesset.

A delegation of parliamentarians led by EP President Hans-Gert Pottering, visited Gaza on Monday while another EP delegation led by Cypriot MEP Kyriacos Triantaphyllides, who is the chair of the EP Delegation for Relations with the PLC, visited Gaza two weeks ago.

These visits, opine analysts, highlight the importance the EP is giving to the Palestine issue.

Haaretz, February 24, 2009 - Peres: EU Sympathy for Hamas Dimishes Chance for Peace