Von Klaeden met Dr. Salem Fayyad, former Finance Minister, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and co-founder of the party “Third Way” at the office of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Ramallah.

The main topic of the discussion was the formation of a new government, the budgetary position of the Palestinian Authority and the economical situation in Palestine.

In a conversation, with Dr. Saeb Erekat, head of the higher commission of the PLO for negotiations with Israel, the conditions for the formation of a new government and the renewal of negotiations with Israel were discussed. Dr. Erekat underlined, that President Abbas will make the proclamation of a government conditional on the release of the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and the end of the rocket firing on Israel from the Gaza Strip. Dr. Ereket appealed to the states of the European Union, and especially Germany, to prevent a further radicalization in the region and to continue to support the peace process between Israel and Palestine.

Furthermore, different aspects of a peaceful solution for Jerusalem were discussed in a conversation with Dr. Sari Nusseibeh, President of Al-Quds University, in East-Jerusalem.

In addition to these political talks, von Klaeden met several non-governmental organisations. He received a briefing of representatives of the “Negotiations Support Unit” of the PLO and the “Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs” (OCHA) of the United Nations about the humanitarian situation in the occupied territories, the restrictions in mobility and the decline of the economic situation in the Palestinian territories.

In order to gain a deeper impression of the Israeli settlement policy and its effects on the civilians’ daily live, Eckart von Klaeden visited the old city of Hebron.

The “Temporary International Presence in Hebron” (TIPH), a group of civil observers from different European countries, took the lead through the city.

Hebron is divided into two parts; one is under the control of the Palestinian Authority, the other one is under the control of the Israeli military administration, where 500 settlers and 10 000 Palestinians live in an extremely tense situation.