Reports of wartime violations by Israel during its January offensive in the Gaza Strip were jointly reviewed by a delegation of European lawmakers as they met with Jordanian officials Saturday, according to Jordanian government statement, dpa reported. The violations were reported by the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA). The European delegation, led by Miloslav Vlcek, the speaker of the Czech parliament and deputy president of the European Parliament, is visiting Jordan in the course of a regional tour that also took them to Egypt, the Gaza Strip, Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Jordanian parliamentary speaker Abdul Haji Majali, current EMPA President, briefed the European deputies on the report. "Israel's stubbornness and adamant rejection of just and comprehensive peace through refusing all relevant UN resolutions and the Arab peace initiative, which envisages the establishment of an independent Palestinian state" that lives in peace with the Jewish state, he said, according to the statement. Majali said that the EMPA backed the effort of the European parliamentarians and said that "it was high time for the European Union to work actively with the world community for ending the conflict and restoring stability to the region". Vlcek told reporters later that his delegation found the situation in the Gaza Strip as a result of the Israeli attack "worse" than was reported by the world media. He said that he and his colleagues had "documented" their findings in Gaza and planned to pass a report to their respective governments.
