British FM: Israel’s Assassination Policy Illegal
LONDON -- The British Foreign Minster, Jack Straw, criticized on Saturday the continued Israeli assassination policy
and the Apartheid Wall construction in the occupied Palestinian territories, regarding such Israeli practices as
‘illegal’.
Straw, in an interview with “Alhayat” London-based Arab newspaper, expressed shock and grief for the scenes of corps
and destruction he has seen on TV screens in the Gaza Strip City of Rafah.
The British FM said that the cycle of violence, horror and siege makes hopes of peace impossible and leads Israel to
further isolation and fear throughout the region.
He called on Israelis and Palestinians to necessarily abide by the Road Map peace plan which has been set forth by the
Quartet (United Nations, United States, Russia, European Union), stressing the need that the international community
works on helping establishing a sovereign Palestinian state on contingent Palestinian lands.
Straw made clear that since the 1967, the international community has been committed to the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict, calling on Israel to stop actions that undermine credibility and rather takes steps that improve the
Palestinian welfare.
Last week we voted in the UN Security Council for a resolution that condemns the killing of the Palestinian civilians in
the Rafah city and calls Israel to live up with the rules of international law by refraining from demolishing
Palestinian-owned homes, the British senior official pointed out.
He also hinted that the UK has backed Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon’s withdrawal plan, on which Israel would
dismantle some settlements in the Gaza Strip, however, the UK deemed that such withdrawal be carried out in coordination
with the Palestinian National Authority.
FM Straw stressed that his country is committed to ensuring smooth Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as a first move, to be
followed with similar major steps, leading eventually to a final solution based on the Road Map and the relevant United
Nations’ resolutions.
Straw’s remarks came concurrent with the extrajudicial execution of two Palestinian resistance members by Israeli
warplanes in Gaza yesterday night, causing the death of a third passerby and wounding nine others
In the meantime, the well-known British veteran journalist, Patrick Sail, condemned the ‘criminal’ Israeli destruction
throughout the occupied Palestinian territories, attributing such actions to Ariel Sharon’s character, which is
considered the ‘bloodiest’ in Israel’s history.