Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, this is a grave hour at which we must work even harder to break the infernal spiral of violence in the Middle East. Although Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was not one of our best friends, his assassination is a clear and flagrant violation of international law. They could have arrested him and tried him. I would also point out that we have created an International Criminal Court which must have a role to play, although it is not supported by some States, including Israel. We roundly condemn the assassination of the Hamas leader and other Palestinians, on the direct orders of a government, the government of Israel. We also roundly condemn the murders and terrorist acts aimed against the civilian populations of both parties to the conflict and I believe we must appeal to the Palestinians not to respond with a murderous increase in terrorist acts and more bloodshed. This assassination has already had very grave consequences, including the suspension of the Arab League Summit. In this regard, I would like to express my agreement with the severe judgment of Shimon Peres in the Knesset when he said that this action would bring even more serious consequences. There must therefore be an end to this policy of continuing to build the wall within the occupied territories, of ordering extra-judicial executions and, furthermore, there must be a withdrawal from Gaza, to which the current Israeli Government has clearly committed itself. I would like to say on behalf of my group that the repeated violations of human rights, non-compliance with the latest United Nations resolutions on the part of the Israeli Government and, above all, Ariel Sharon’s insistence on renewing executions outside the framework of international law, will leave us with no other option than to reiterate the positions adopted by this House in its Resolution of 10 April 2002 and to call on the Commission and the Council to strictly apply the second article of our Association Agreement. We do not want to go that far, but we believe that we must issue a solemn and severe warning. In this regard, I would like to make three requests: the first is to urge Israeli civil society, that vibrant Israeli society, and all its political parties, while defending its right to its own security, to demand that its government act in accordance with international law. Secondly, I would call on the Presidency-in-Office of the Council to urge those Member States of the European Union which sit on the United Nations Security Council to immediately present a proposal to establish an international intervention force on the 1967 borders, with the mandate of protecting both sides. Thirdly, that the Commission continue with its aid, with the European Union’s aid, to assist the Palestinian National Authority to be strengthened and reformed, because a strong interlocutor is required if we are to argue that there must be a Palestinian State. I believe that the whole of this process must come within the framework of the proposals being made to resolve the problem of the Middle East. It is clear that in order to resolve such a bitter and profound conflict, it is better to propose peace than to begin new wars and increase the cycle of violence, above all in a situation in which the stability of those regimes which could contribute to supporting a process of reform is being broken. I therefore believe that we must restart and reinforce a process in which the European Union, the United States – which also has a serious responsibility – the Arab League and all the countries of the region can continue along the lines of the statement on a common future for the Middle East recently proposed by the German Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Fischer, and in which the European Union, the region’s main partner, as the Commissioner has said quite rightly, could contribute many elements in relation to peace treaties, security, arms control, disarmament, respect for human rights and democracy and economic cooperation. I will end, Mr President, by saying that the European Parliament has done its bit with the creation, at last, of the Athens Parliamentary Assembly, and we have a duty, not only political but also moral, to continue the European Union's efforts in line with the Barcelona process in order to overcome such a bitter and profound crisis which calls on us to show political, economic and moral responsibility.

Political group: PSE