|
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert this afternoon, met with Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen and updated him on reports from the Gaza Strip regarding the latest violence – including acts of murder – between Fatah and Hamas. The Prime Minister said that the situation in the Gaza Strip was disturbing and worrying mainly regarding the ability of the pragmatic forces in the Palestinian Authority to stand against the extremist forces and act against the smuggling of weapons into the area: “If the Gaza Strip ultimately falls to Hamas, this will be of great regional significance. Israel is defending – and will defend – itself against any aggression by the terrorist organizations, according to its needs. We cannot enter the Gaza Strip in order to fight the extremists on behalf of the Palestinian pragmatists.”
Prime Minister Olmert told Dutch Foreign Minister Verhagen that the West must act quickly in order to change the situation in the Gaza Strip and added that serious consideration must be given to the introduction of a multi-national force, similar to UNIFIL, to the Philadelphi corridor area in order to halt the strengthening of the extremist forces.
|