Blair on Gaza: “What we’re doing is what we can do”

I just attended a press conference here at the U.N. featuring Tony Blair, special representative of “the quartet” in the Mideast peace process, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, and Norwegian foreign minister Jonas Støre.

While President Obama attempted to move things forward politically at his meeting with Netanyahu and Abbas this morning, the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee, as they were called working on the economic end, trying to raise international funding to “support he Palestinian authority so it can hit the ground running the day there is a Palestinian state,” in Store’s words. Being that the speakers themselves admitted that real eocnomic progress isn’t possible without a politcial settlement, political issues inevitably came up for discussion. Blair in particular seemed frustrated that all other issues are on hold while the two sides continue to argue over settlements:

The important thing about the settlement issue is that nothing should be allowed to prevent us from reaching a final status settlement. The single most important thing is that we get these negotiations lauched.”  

Blair was also pressed by a reporter to explain what the international community was doing to alleviate the suffering of civilians in Gaza:

“What we’re doing is what we can do, and that is to make sure that in every forum, in every meeting we raise the issue of Gaza and try to make changes in policy happen…Insofar as people in gaza are getting help right now, they’re getting it from the international community… We need to ease the blockade. It would help enormously if the kidnapped Israeli soldier, [Gilad] Shalit was released. We need to bring gaza politically and economically into the process. We do everything we can.”

Fayyad also signalled a desire to bring Hamas back into the Palestinian political process, saying, “It would enable us to have our state, because it is not a state without unification of the country.”

Blair has in the past suggested that Hamas should be brought into the peace process, but insists  that the quartet will not engage with the party until it renounces violence.

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