EU aid chief urges opening of Gaza-Israel border

BRUSSELS, June 26 (Reuters) EU Aid Commissioner Louis Michel urged Israel today to open the main border crossing with the Hamas-held Gaza Strip to enable crucial relief supplies to get to the 1.5 million people living there.

''In the current situation, there is a real risk that Gaza will begin to look like a citadel under siege, where the civilian population is trapped and even basic needs cannot be met,'' Michel said in a statement.

Israel has resisted calls by the United Nations and others to open the Karni crossing that is the territory's economic lifeline, citing security reasons and instead promising to use smaller border passages to bring in basic supplies.

''Humanitarian aid is neutral. It does not seek to confer any advantage on any party or imply any form of political recognition,'' Michel said, adding that 30 million euros of EU supplies and funds were ''ready and waiting''.

Israel and the United States want to isolate Hamas economically, diplomatically and militarily in the Gaza Strip, where the Islamist group seized control more than a week ago, while allowing funds and goods to flow to President Mahmoud Abbas's emergency administration in the occupied West Bank.

Yet the EU has deep misgivings about the policy, warning it could complicate efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by creating two separate Palestinian entities.

Israel controls the land crossings between Gaza and Israel, as well as Gaza's air space and territorial waters. Israel does not allow the crossing of people or goods by sea or air.

Reuters GL RN2328