European leaders head to ME, death tolls rise
Mon, 05 Jan 2009 02:09:12 GMT
 Yesterday (Sunday), Israel intensified strikes on Gaza. |
The Swiss government on Sunday called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Gaza in order to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians and to guarantee humanitarian access.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg and an EU mission that he heads, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and Russian special Mideast envoy Alexander Saltanov have arrived in the region on Sunday and Monday to visit Middle East states.
EU foreign ministers at their emergency meeting in Paris last week called for an immediate truce and full opening of the Gaza Strip to international aid agencies.
Yesterday (Sunday), Israel intensified strikes on Gaza for the ninth consecutive day as death tolls in the impoverished strip sharply continue to rise. Israel's military incursion into the Gaza Strip since December 27 has so far killed over 520 people, including 87 children, and wounded 2,790 others.
The diplomats along with EU chief diplomat Javier Solana, who arrived in Egypt on Sunday, are scheduled to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Monday and later travel to al-Quds (Jerusalem), Ramallah and the Jordanian capital Amman.
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