PARIS -(Dow Jones)- Former U.K. prime minister Tony Blair Thursday said the Islamist Hamas movement has a role to play in solving the Gaza crisis and that an escalation of violence must be avoided.
Provided Hamas wants a a two-state solution and an end to violence, "we can work together," Blair, the representative of the Middle East Quartet of the European Union, Russia, the U.N. and the U.S., told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Paris.
"But we can't work with an organization that wants to pursue their objective either by violence or doesn't accept the two-state solution."
His comments come as Hamas rejected a Franco-Egyptian initiative to secure a ceasefire in Gaza. Israel launched a major military operation 12 days ago in Gaza with the objective of ending rocket attacks by Hamas.
"It's incredibly important that there isn't an escalation. That is one reason why the sooner this can be brought to an end, the sooner we can get back to some sort of calm and then concentrate on the long-term solution," Blair said.
The only possible long-term solution in the region is "unity on the Palestinian side between Gaza and the West Bank but on the basis of peace in a two-state solution, the State of Israel and the State of Palestine," Blair said.
-By Nathalie Boschat and Geraldine Amiel, Dow Jones Newswires; +33 1 40171740; nathalie.boschat@dowjones.com
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Publié le 08 janvier 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones