Plaid Cymru's President and Deputy President have called for real and urgent action to end the attacks on Gaza. Dafydd Iwan and Jill Evans MEP have condemned the Israeli bombing and invasion which to date have killed over 400 Palestinians, many of them children. Plaid Cymru has supported calls for an immediate ceasefire but say that words are not enough.
Jill Evans MEP, who has visited Palestine several times and is planning to return to Gaza in February, said:
"Plaid Cymru has long campaigned for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine and for a two-state solution. We opposed the siege of Gaza which caused such terrible suffering. Gaza itself is smaller than Wrexham or Rhondda Cynon Taf but has a population of 1.5 million. The bombardment and now the ground invasion of this poor and heavily populated area will cause untold misery.
"There have been many calls for a ceasefire which Israel has ignored. The time has come for action.
"One concrete step would be for the European Union to suspend Israel’s privileged trade agreement with Europe, which requires Israel to respect human rights. This would send the clearest signal of the need for an urgent ceasefire."
Plaid President Dafydd Iwan said:
"In my New Year message, I called for people to work together to create a more peaceful world. Most of the world's problems can be better served by talking and negotiations than by military might.
"The state of Israel is showing once again that it believes everything can be solved by military action, and they are in danger of losing the support and sympathy of people across the world who see this as a totally unnecessary act of aggression against a country which is in no position to defend itself.
"We must work with the United Nations to bring peace and stability in the Middle East, but I fear this latest action has made everything more difficult, including the rebuilding of civil life for Palestinians and Israelis.
"The UK government must revoke its support for any new agreements with Israel. The European Parliament should refuse to endorse any extension of existing agreements and should exert its influence to prevent further EU benefits going Israel whilst it fails to observe its international legal and humanitarian obligations."
Diwedd/Ends.
