Malta supports call for Israel to lift Gaza Strip blockade

Malta supports the call on Israel to end the blockade of the Gaza Strip and will intensify its efforts in this direction within the EU following the attack on an aid flotilla destined for the Palestinian region earlier this week, Foreign Minister Tonio Borg said yesterday.

He said Malta's stand was the European position as expressed in December by EU foreign ministers. "We support the call for the lifting of the blockade on the Gaza Strip. We want peace in the area and we therefore cannot support Hamas... We want to support Fatah, not Hamas," he said, arguing that the blockade would only help to undermine the mainstream Palestinian party Fatah.

There was widespread negative reaction from the international community to Monday's raid by Israeli commandoes on a flotilla of six ships heading to Gaza with 10,000 tonnes of aid. The aid convoy was seeking to penetrate the blockade, which has been imposed almost continuously since the militant group Hamas took control of the strip in June 2007.

The operation turned violent when the commandoes clashed with those on board the vessels and nine people died.

Many countries condemned the storming in international waters but, more significantly, the incident served to spark fresh calls for the blockade to end, including a statement by UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon.

Dr Borg said the EU was committed towards the security of Israel and its full integration into the region, which was best guaranteed through peace between the country and its neighbours.

A Maltese peace activist in Gaza, Bianca Zammit, who was shot in the leg by Israeli soldiers last month, said from the port of Gaza that Palestinians were overcome by shock rather than anger because they never expected Israeli forces to kill foreigners. Eight of the victims were Turks and one a US national of Turkish origin.

Asked whether Israel had explained the incident which led to Ms Zammit's shooting, Dr Borg said the government was still waiting.

"We are still waiting for an explanation. We understand this will involve an investigation and might take time but we have not forgotten about it and we are following it up regularly, both through Malta's Ambassador in Tel Aviv and through the EU Spanish presidency," he said.

Ms Zammit was shot and injured when she attended a Palestinian protest in Gaza against Israel's decision to impose a no-entry zone all along the Israel-Gaza border.

The bullet luckily went right through her leg and did not break any bone.