Robert Serry, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, met Sunday in Gaza with four ministers of the new Palestinian consensus government. “I assured them full support of the United Nations,’ Serry said in a statement. It also called for lifting the blockade on Gaza.
Robert Serry, The United Nation’s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, met Sunday in Gaza with four ministers of the new Palestinian consensus government. According to a statement made public by the United Nations, Serry met the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Haifa al-Agha, the Minister of Labor, Mamoun Abu Shahla, the Minister of Justice Salim al-Saqqa, and Mufeed al-Hasayneh, the new minister of public works and housing.
The consensus government replaces two separate Palestinian administrations – one in Gaza run by Hamas and the other headed by Abbas in parts of the West Bank. The split between the long-standing rivals broke open after Hamas overran Gaza in 2007, wresting control there from Abbas. At the beginning of June Israel had denied the ministers entry into the occupied West Bank from the Gaza Strip ahead of the unveiling of the new unity government.
“I assured them full support of the United Nations which is ready to increase its considerable program of works in Gaza, including in the priority areas of water and energy,’ Serry said in the statement.
The statement also called for lifting the blockade on the coastal strip that has been enforced by Israel and Egypt since 2007.
Details at AIC.
