LUXEMBOURG: EU foreign ministers sought on Monday to push Israel to end its blockade of Gaza, two weeks after a deadly commando attack on an aid flotilla, with diplomats saying the pressure is working.
Israel is showing willingness to significantly ease the blockade following international concern over the attack on the high seas two weeks ago which left nine Turkish activists dead, one European diplomat said.
Israel appears ready "in weeks or months" to ease the entry of goods into the blockaded Gaza Strip via one or two land crossings, the diplomat added on the margins of a meeting of the foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
"The indications we are getting from Israel is that they are willing to go from a positive to a negative list," the diplomat said, referring to a change from a list of allowed items to a list of banned items, with many more previously banned ordinary goods allowed to go through.
Israel had indicated that one or both of the Karni and Kerem Shalom crossings could be used for the deliveries.
Another European diplomat said the crossings may be monitored by the United Nations, "not by providing security but to validate the goods going in."
The EU role could be "to offer support through financial aid," he added.
Last week an Israeli rights group said the military is still preventing basic goods like vinegar, coriander and toys from entering Gaza as part of the crippling embargo on the Hamas-run territory.
The report by the Gisha Legal Centre for Freedom of Movement marking three years since closures were tightened said Israel permits just 97 different items to enter, as compared to more than 4,000 that entered before June 2007.
Middle East envoy Tony Blair was in Luxembourg, to meet with the EU foreign ministers, and was to announce details of the Israeli proposals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he was engaged in discussions on ways to meet Gaza’s humanitarian needs while preventing the entry of arms into the Hamas-run coastal strip.
Former British premier Blair swiftly welcomed Netanyahu’s comments, saying they made a clear distinction between Israel’s security concerns and the need to let Gazans live a normal life.
EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, writing in international media on Wednesday, said the EU officials "shall examine a practical plan to allow the people of Gaza to bring in what they need."
The comments came after Israel announced it had set up an "independent public commission" to investigate the raid on the aid flotilla in which nine Turkish activists were killed.
The committee, which would include two foreign observers, was established to conduct an internal investigation into the legal aspects of the operation.
Ashton, arriving for the EU ministerial talks, said it was "very important to have a credible investigation", into the deadly incident.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the announcement of an investigation was "an important step forward" and welcomed the involvement of Northern Irish Nobel Peace Prize winner David Trimble.
The other is Ken Watkin, a former judge advocate general of the Canadian armed forces.
"Clearly it is very important that it is a truly independent enquiry and a thorough investigation that the international community can respect," he added.
In a draft statement, the EU ministers deeply regret the loss of life aboard the aid flotilla and call for "an immediate, full and impartial inquiry into these events and the circumstances surrounding them," including "credible international participation."
The statement, seen by AFP but yet to be approved by the ministers, calls the situation in Gaza "unsustainable."
They were set to call for "an immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza."
