Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann, on a visit to Israel this week, appealed to Israeli leaders to lift the Gaza Strip blockade.
“We are convinced the quality of life in Gaza must be improved and in order to do so there is a need for the blockade on Gaza to be lifted,” he said during a joint press conference with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem.
He added: “On the other hand, we believe that Israel's security concerns, especially the prevention of weapons smuggling, are an important condition that cannot be violated.”
he Social-Democrat Chancellor is the first head of state to have visited Israel after the Gaza flotilla events last month.
Faymann said he could imagine the Austrian participating in monitoring deliveries into Gaza as it has been suggested by European Union (EU) leaders recently.
Israel’s President Peres declared that Israel “will not allow entry of ships carrying missiles and ordinance that arrive directly from Iran, Syria, and Lebanon.”
In a reference to the flotillas that are trying to break the naval blockade on Gaza, he said that “terrorist organizations – Hezbollah, Hamas and the Iranians – have taken over the flotillas and are not interested in peace, they are looking for provocations and conflict."
“I call upon European leaders to pressure Hamas to renounce terrorism and war against Israel,” he added.
“Today, Europe could turn to Hamas, which controls Gaza, and pressure its leaders into supporting negotiations toward peace, recognizing Israel, and stopping the weapons smuggling and acts of terrorism. Then there would be a different Gaza, open and moderate, a Gaza of peace,” Peres said.
Austria is currently a member of the UN Security Council.