At the opening of the plenary session on Monday January 12th, EP President Hans-Gert Pöttering called for an immediate cease-fire and the end to the violence between Israelis and Palestinians. President Pöttering accused Hamas of starting the escalation of violence, but he also reminded that the right to defence does not justify violence against civilians. He suggested a political solution to the conflict and supported the plan promoted by France and Egypt.

EP President Hans-Gert Pöttering expressed his "deepest regret" over the escalation of the Gaza conflict between Israel and Hamas.  "It is not acceptable for people to continue to suffer, for violence to continue, and now United Nations staff are under fire. How far must the spiral of violence continue before commonsense and reason gain the upper-hand?" he asked.

President Pöttering strongly criticised Hamas for ending the ceasefire by firing rockets on Israel, and criticised Israel's "disproportionate reaction".  "A state's inviolable right to protect itself does not justify violent acts which affect first and foremost civilian populations," he said.

EU Parliament position over the Gaza conflict

President Pöttering stated that the EP "stands right behind the calls expressed by the European Council of Ministers as confirmed by the UN resolution of January, 8th 2008. This legally binding resolution is not being respected by either side - Hamas and Israel".
 
He noted with regret that 2008 was the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, a year which offered a sign of hope, demonstrating that there is "no need for a clash of civilisation", but the Gaza conflict has shown how quickly these efforts can be "wiped out".

In President Pöttering's opinion the peace process must be resumed and intensified, aiming to reach a two-state solution with Israel and Palestine as two sovereign states in secure borders. He added that “together with the Quartet, the Moderate Arab Partners and the parties in conflict, the European Union, under the aegis of the United Nations, must bring about a rapid resumption of the peace negotiations”.
 
This peace process has been replaced by a process of escalation, where it is no longer the case for a process of negotiations, but for crisis management. “Peace in the Middle East cannot be solved solely by the region itself. The international community must be ready, more than ever before to promote peace, in the Middle East, in order for the bitter events of the past decades not to be perpetuated into forthcoming decades”, he added.

MEPs will debate the situation in Gaza and Israel on Wednesday January, 14th in the afternoon and vote on a resolution on Thursday January, 15th 2009.

International intervention should ensure the negotiated issue

Pointing to negotiations in the last decade, President Pöttering said the Franco-Egyptian plan to set up international mechanism to secure the Gaza borders must be a success. "At the beginning of the Annapolis process, the European Union already announced in its strategic paper that it was prepared to get involved, and contribute its commitment".
 
However, Mr. Pöttering stressed the fact that any deployment of international security forces must be part of "an overall political objective" which creates trust, enables peace negotiations to take place, and guarantees "equal security for Israel and the Palestinians".