JERUSALEM, May 17, 2011 (WAFA) - European Union Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva and United Nations Undersecretary-General Valerie Amos highlighted during their visit to the Gaza Strip on Monday the dramatic human and far-reaching effects of the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.

“The blockade maintains Gaza people in a state of humanitarian vulnerability and dependency,” said Georgieva. “By impeding the movement of people and the import and export of goods, there is hardly no prospect for development,” she said.

Georgieva said that it is very difficult to bring construction materials into Gaza, where they are urgently needed to build houses and schools as well as health and sanitary basic facilities.

She observed how the blockade exacerbates the predicament of a large number of Palestinians and hinders the flow of humanitarian aid, persons and commercial goods to and from the Gaza Strip.

During her visit to projects in Gaza, funded by the European Union, Commissioner Georgieva underscored the importance of implementing the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access for Gaza.

Georgieve and Amos, who had also met with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak in Tel Aviv, said that “the EU and the UN continue to draw attention to the difficult humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, and are calling for the immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons. It is in the interest of people but also can serve a peaceful development and more stable environment. This is the message we conveyed to Israeli Defense Minister Barak.”

M.A.