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Tony Blair calls for greater progress on allowing exports from Gaza
Sunday, Nov 28, 2010 in Office of Tony Blair, Office of the Quartet Representative
Quartet Representative Tony Blair today urged Israel to allow greater exports from Gaza to improve the facts on the ground for Palestinians, saying “there has been significant change in Gaza, but not nearly as much as we need.”
Tony Blair spoke to the Associated Press in Ramallah after meeting separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, saying he hoped to see progress soon.
Israel allowed the first shipments of strawberries and carnations of the season to be exported from Gaza on Sunday.
Tony Blair, who was instrumental in negotiating the easing of the closure policy in June, said: "I hope that in a short space of time, we will get some progress there, because a functioning private sector in Gaza is important."
"It is important for the economy of Gaza, but it is also important for the people there."
Tony Blair said Gazans, most of whom receive some aid, don't want handouts. "They want to run their own affairs properly," he said.
Tony Blair said these “facts on the ground” changes, both in Gaza and on the West Bank, remain crucial.
"What you can't have is a situation, and this is frankly something that worries me at the moment, you can't have a situation where every time there is a political impasse, everything else stops," he said.
