EU, UN official to visit occupied Palestinian territories

EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, and Humanitarian Aid, Kristalina Georgieva, and the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos, will pay a joint four-day visit to the occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel from Saturday. The European Commission announced in a statement on Friday that the two officials will visit the West Bank, Gaza, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to gather first-hand information on the current humanitarian needs. They will underline the need for improved humanitarian access to the people in need across the Gaza Strip, and the importance of respecting international humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict. "While all eyes are set on the tremendous changes happening on the political scene with the Arab Spring and the inter-Palestinian reconciliation, we must not forget the humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian Territory," said Georgieva in press statements. "A large portion of the Palestinian population still lives in dire conditions and relies on external humanitarian assistance. The access to basic resources and services is restricted for many inhabitants of the West Bank, and even more so for those living in Gaza, " she noted. She added that the best hope is "that humanitarian aid quickly becomes superfluous as prospects for economic development and for peace turn into concrete reality." During their visit, the two officials will meet and talk to representatives of the most vulnerable people in the conflict, particularly those living in the West Bank's area C, in East Jerusalem and in Gaza. They will also hold meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, and high-level Israeli officials. Between 2000 and the start of 2011, the European Commission has provided around 600 million euro in humanitarian aid for the basic needs of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.