David Hammerstein (Verts/ALE). – (ES) Mr President, I too was in Gaza a few days ago, and it was a very intense experience. We also went to Egypt. I believe that we are at the end of an era: the Bush era, and that the last throes of President Bush are proving particularly bloody and painful.

We are at a turning point when we can adopt a different policy towards the Middle East, in which I want the European Union to take the lead. Mr Obama is also taking this line as he says that he will talk to Iran. Yes, Mr Obama is going to talk to Iran and we must talk to everyone, including Hamas, in the Middle East.

This new policy in the Middle East must be a policy of cooperation and, at the very least, it must abide by our values and by international law. The hundreds of children whom we saw in Gaza, who clung onto our arms and who looked at us with eyes full of hope deserve an answer, just like the children of Israel.

This requires concrete action; it requires action on the ground, to give hope to the moderates. The most regrettable aspect is that Prime Minister Fayad, President Abbas, President Mubarak and King Abdullah are currently being accused of treachery in the streets of the Arab world. When I stopped my taxi in the Sinai desert to have a coffee, we only saw Khaled Meshaal on the huge screens.

That is the result, the collateral damage of this attack on Gaza. It will not bring peace to Israel or the security that we want, and even less so will it bring anything good for us. If we do not stop this conflict, it will bring hatred to Europe’s own streets.