In the latest sign of the international backlash against Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip, which has left more than 1,000 Palestinians dead, Ramiro Cibrian-Uzal, head of a European Commission delegation to Israel, said upgrading ties at a time when Israel was "using its war means in a very dramatic, in a powerful way in Gaza" was "not appropriate".

The EU move came as Egyptian officials said they had made progress in talks with a delegation from Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip, and suggested that the strategy was to reach a 10-day ceasefire.

Hamas has been seeking changes to the initiative launched by Cairo last week, which calls for a temporary ceasefire and talks on how to end the blockade of Gaza and prevent the Islamist group from rearming.

Hamas officials said they had given their views on the initiative and expected Egypt to discuss them with Israel. But an Egyptian official said the positions of Cairo and Hamas were narrowing.

Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli defence official, is travelling to Cairo on Thursday for talks. But a spokesman for Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister, said the government was "not interested in some form of temporary ceasefire that will only allow Hamas to rearm and that will end with another rocket barrage on Israel".

European officials said the "time-out" on upgrading ties with Israel was not intended as a sanction and had been mutually agreed with Israel. But it did reflect the widespread dismay at Israel's conduct in the conflict.

Brussels decided to open talks with Israel over upgrading relations in December, despite protests from Palestinian and Arab leaders. The precise nature of the upgrade had yet to be determined, but the EU was holding out the prospect of a regular political dialogue, Israeli participation in EU programmes and agencies and closer integration into the European single market for goods and services.

Egypt is under huge pressure to broker a speedy ceasefire and assert its position as the regional leader that can speak for the Palestinians and act in their interests.

Cairo has been feeling the heat from rivals such as Qatar, which has been pressing for an emergency Arab summit. Analysts say this would give it an opportunity to embarrass Egypt and Saudi Arabia, US allies.

Many in the region accuse Cairo of colluding with Israel in its offensive by keeping the Egyptian border with Gaza closed to everything except humanitarian supplies.

Qatar was attempting to host a summit on Friday but, in an apparent bid to pre-empt it, Saudi Arabia announced its own summit for Gulf leaders on Thursday to discuss Gaza.

Osama bin Laden, leader of the al-Qaeda terror group, also entered the fray on Wednesday. A recorded message on the internet called on Muslims to rally in support of the Palestinians in Gaza, and lashed out at Arab governments that he said were largely "allied with the Crusader-Zionist coalition".

By Tobias Buck and Andrew England in Jerusalem and Heba Saleh in Cairo

© Financial Times 2009

 

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