• Published 12:36 19.07.10
  • Latest update 12:36 19.07.10

EU foreign policy chief visits Shalit family, urges Hamas to free captive IDF soldier

Ashton spoke as she began the third day of a three-day tour of Gaza, Israel and the West Bank.

By DPA Tags: Israel news Gilad Shalit Hamas Gaza

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton called on Hamas Monday to release abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been in captivity in the Gaza Strip for more than four years.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton with Noam and Aviva Shalit

EU Foreign Policy Chief Ashton, left, greets Aviva and Noam Shalit, center, the parents of captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in Jerusalem, on July 19, 2010

Photo by: Reuters

Ashton spoke as she began the third day of a three-day tour of Gaza, Israel and the West Bank by visiting the protest tent erected by the soldier's family outside the Jerusalem residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In Gaza Sunday, she called on Israel to also lift its near-total ban on exports from the strip and further open its border crossings into the Palestinian coastal enclave.

She also urged the Palestinian leadership to move into direct negotiations with Israel, but expressed "deep concern about recent settlements activity in East Jerusalem."

Ashton welcomed Israel's decision to greatly ease the import of goods into Gaza and called its security concerns "legitimate," but she described its blockade of the strip as "unacceptable, unsustainable and counterproductive."

 

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