EU calls for enabling PNA consensus gov't to rule Gaza

The European Union (EU) on Sunday called for enabling the Palestinian consensus government to take its role in the Gaza Strip which has been ruled by the Islamic Hamas movement since 2007.

The EU remarks were made at a ceremony held in Gaza city to mark the 66 anniversary of the Europe Day, which Palestinian officials and notables attended, but Hamas officials were not invited to.

The ceremony was supposed to be held two weeks ago, but postponed after three kids had accidently died in a fire that broke out in their home in the Beach Refugee Camp in western Gaza.

The EU representative in Palestine, Ralf Tarraf, said the bloc is committed to the partnership with the Palestinians and will carry on with providing the aid to Palestine.

"The EU political stance to the Palestinian questions is clear and believes in the necessity for achieving everlasting peace and establishing a Palestinian state that lives in peace with its neighbors," said Tarraf.

He also called for an end to the Israeli occupation and enabling the Palestinian consensus government, headed by Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, to take its role in the Gaza Strip.

Tarraf also said the EU considers east Jerusalem as part of the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, adding "for the EU, there is no difference between east Jerusalem and area (C) in the West Bank."

Hamas has been ruling the Gaza Strip since it violently took control of the area after weeks of fighting with the security forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007.

The impoverished coastal enclave has been under a tight Israeli blockade since then, and its populations have been suffering from a severe shortage of power, high rates of unemployment and poverty. Endit