Gaza policy applicable in other parts of West Bank: Barak (2)

The Israeli government made the announcement about three weeks after a deadly Israeli naval commando attacks on a Gaza-bound flotilla, which outraged most parts of the world at large and touched off strong condemnations.

Earlier on Monday, the Quartet, a diplomatic group in search of lasting peace in the Middle East, issued a statement here to welcome the Israeli announcement to ease its blockade on Gaza. " The new policy towards Gaza just announced by the government of Israel is a welcome development," said the statement issued by the Quartet, made up of the European Union, the United Nations, Russia and the United States.

"Of course, we have nothing against the 1.5 million Gazans, almost all of them are innocent people like everyone of us and have the right to get humanitarian needs," Barak said.

"But I insist that there was never a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, there is no hunger, no humanitarian crisis," the Israeli defense minister said in what is against the UN reports that Gaza has been locked in a humanitarian crisis because of the Israeli blockade.

"There are 1.5 million Gazans," he said. "Only one person in Gaza is deprived from daylight, deprived from the right to meet with his relatives, deprived from the basic rights of human beings -- his name is Gilad Shalit, he is an abducted Israeli soldier and we always remember him."


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