S&D Euro MPs urge High Representative Catherine Ashton to fulfil the expectations of millions of Europeans who call for EU action to stop the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip and to achieve lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
 
S&D Group president Gianni Pittella and S&D vice-president Victor Boştinaru said today:
 
"Every day of ineffective actions means further victims. Every single day of shameful silence causes sufferings and destruction. What else are we waiting for? EU must behave as a serious political actor by calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and then lead a comprehensive peace conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Lady Ashton’s mandate has not yet expired. The High Representative must meet her responsibilities in this regard as well as playing a meaningful role in the peace process in Gaza Strip war. There can be no excuse for the lack of EU political initiative.
 
"We support all international and regional efforts aiming to stop the on-going violence in the Gaza Strip and in Israel. We condemn the continued firing of rockets by Palestinian militants into Israel. We also condemn the disproportionate use of force by the Israeli army in Gaza – an estimated 70 per cent of the more than 700 Palestinian victims are civilians, including many children – and we call for an end to this military operation through the de-escalation of the conflict.
 
"The longer we wait, the less room there is to achieve a rapid ceasefire and a final appeasement of this bloody conflict based on the two-state solution – with 1967 borders and Jerusalem as capital of both states – with the State of Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous and viable Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and security."