US Senator John Kerry raised the issue of Israel’s closure of the Gaza Strip during his meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials in the Middle East, his spokesman said on Monday.
The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman "has long called for heightened access for humanitarian goods and foodstuffs," said spokesman Frederick Jones on the phone from Washington.
Kerry, who concluded his latest Mideast trip on Monday, made a rare visit to the Gaza Strip last February in the aftermath of Israel’s three-week military offensive that left some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead.
After his visit, Kerry reportedly demanded that Israel allow pasta into Gaza, after learning that spaghetti was one of thousands of items Israel bans from the besieged enclave.
Since Hamas took full control of Gaza in June 2007, Israel closed its borders with the Strip, effectively trapping the territory’s 1.5 million inhabitants inside and curtailing imports and exports. Among the items Israel bars from Gaza are construction materials such as concrete needed to rebuild from the 2008-2009 conflict.
However, according to Jones, Gaza was simply "not on the itinerary" for Kerry’s most recent Mideast visit. He said the senator currently has no specific plans to return to the Strip.
The senator met with President Mahmoud Abbas and chief negotiator Saeb Erekat in Amman on Saturday, and with caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah on Sunday. On Monday he held talks with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition chairwoman Tzipi Livni.
The trip also included a tour of East Jerusalem and a visit to the Rabawi Palestinian housing project on the outskirts of Ramallah.
Another issue that came up during his visit was Israel’s controversial decision to add religious shrines in the West Bank cities of Bethlehem and Hebron to a list of national heritage sites.
At a press conference in West Jerusalem on Monday, Kerry said he understood Israel’s decision. "But the timing and the manner of the announcement needs to be taken into account in the future," Kerry said, according to The Associated Press.
Kerry made this visit in his capacity as a senator, but, according to his spokesman, he stays in "close consultation" with the State Department and the White House, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Mideast envoy George Mitchell.
Jones said Kerry and Clinton spoke last week when Clinton testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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