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Tony Blair welcomes Israeli PM's statement on Gaza

Quartet Representative Tony Blair  said: “I welcome Prime Minister Netanyahu’s clear distinction between Israel’s necessity to protect its security and otherwise to allow Gaza people to get the goods and material they require for ordinary life.
 
“I hope this will enable us to move decisively to a policy on Gaza which keeps out weapons and other combat related material but lets in as a matter of course those items that Gazan people need to improve their lives. This also will enable the UN projects for re-construction to go ahead.
 
“We continue to call for the immediate and unconditional release of Corporal Shalit whose ongoing detention is totally unjustified.”
 
Before the weekly Cabinet meeting today Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "Before the flotilla set sail for Gaza, we discussed – in various forums – the continuation of our policy toward the Gaza Strip.  These discussions continued last week, inter alia, in the meetings I held on the subject with Quartet envoy Tony Blair.

“The principle guiding our policy is clear – to prevent the entry of war materiel from entering Gaza and to allow the entry of humanitarian aid and non-contraband goods into the Gaza Strip.

“The aforesaid discussions, which will continue this week, are designed to ensure that this principle is effectively applied."

Tony Blair talks to the BBC News channel about the latest developments in the Middle East