Tony Blair in Gaza: ‘Radical change of approach’ needed from Israel

15 February 2015, 7:59 pm
Former PM Tony Blair

International Mideast envoy Tony Blair says the world has forsaken the Gaza Strip and is calling for a new approach regarding the war-battered territory.

On a visit to Gaza today following last summer’s war with Israel, the former British prime minister visited Palestinian families still taking shelter in a United Nations-run school.

Reconstruction efforts have been slow, and Mr Blair said some donor countries have not fulfilled their funding commitments. He said the stagnation in reconstruction was a “crime”.

He called for the Islamist group Hamas, which controls Gaza, to clarify if it is part of a “broader Islamist movement with regional designs” or if it would accept a long-term peace alongside Israel.

He called for a “radical change of approach” from Israel to lift trade restrictions on Gaza.

 

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