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| Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (R) gestures beside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a joint news conference after their meeting at Moncloa Palace in Madrid June 12, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) |
MADRID, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Spain called Saturday for direct dialogue between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and urged Israel to lift its current embargo on the Gaza strip.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero appealed for negotiations to reopen after he met with PNA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in the Moncloa Palace here.
Spain would hold a ministerial meeting with the PNA in July, he said.
Zapatero also reiterated the need for Israel to lift its current embargo on the Gaza strip.
He said he hoped the support of U.S. President Barak Obama "will be able to open a phase of direct dialogue within a reasonable time."
The Spanish prime minister, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said Spain and the European Union "needs to carry out strong diplomacy in the face of the situation in the Gaza Strip."
Zapatero criticized Israel for its attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla on May 31 which killed nine activists on board.
He also called for an end to the division between the PNA and Hamas, who ended relations in 2007.
It would be a positive move for the two parties to restore relations toward the creation of a Palestinian state, he said.
