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Post-war Gaza. 'Disproportionate reaction'
Photo: Reuters

UK Parliament committee 'regrets' providing IDF with equipment

Foreign Affairs Committee also calls on government to launch talks with Hamas

The British Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee published a report Sunday on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, expressing regret that the United Kingdom provided the Israel Defense Forces with equipment used during its Gaza offensive earlier this year.

 

The committee also called on the British government to launch talks with Hamas, and urged the European Union to condition its ties with Israel on the State's peace efforts.

 

Committee Chairman Michael Gapes said Sunday that while his country's policy of refusing all contact with Hamas may eventually bear fruit, the British government should consider talking to moderate Hamas officials, as it had previously done with Hezbollah.

 

The report also condemns Israel for the expansion of West Bank settlements and the siege on Gaza, and demands that the British government announce its opinion on whether war crimes were committed during Israel's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.

 

The committee also slams Hamas' "intolerable" fire towards civilian targets in Israel. However the committee's members express the opinion that Israel's reaction was "disproportionate".

 


פרסום ראשון: 07.26.09, 16:48
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