GAZA, (PIC)-- Malta's Foreign Minister Tonio Borg said he was shocked at the humanitarian condition in the Gaza Strip that has resulted from Israel's four-year blockade on the region. He asserted that the time has come to end the blockade.
“The siege on Gaza must be seriously lifted, and not just in words,” Borg said during a press conference he held at UNRWA headquarters in Gaza at noon Friday. The minister landed in Gaza earlier that morning through the Beit Hanoun crossing and visited the Gaza fishing port and inspected the sewage plant in the north.
The EU has been demanding a lift on the siege, Borg said after seeing first-hand the circumstances in the Strip. He noted that Malta was one of the first European states to give Palestine's ambassador full diplomatic representation, calling on other states to take similar steps with Palestinian ambassadors to their countries.
Visits made by EU officials to the region during past months have had an effect on the EU's policies toward the Gaza Strip, Borg went on to say, adding that the EU's positive policies toward the region would pay off in the future.
Borg made a pledge that his country would offer financial aid to the Strip's fishermen and the UN's Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) alongside kick-starting other projects.
The Maltese foreign minister met during his visit with businessmen, representatives in the civil community and fishing industry, Maltese citizens studying in Gaza, and UNRWA deputy director of operations Chris Nordahl.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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