Tajani to Israel and Ramallah Monday to support peace

(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 19 - Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Sunday he would gravel to Israel and Ramallah Monday to support Middle East peace after the start of a ceasefire between Tel Aviv and Hamas in Gaza.
    "Tomorrow morning I will be in Israel and then I will be in Ramallah, in the West Bank, to support peace, to encourage this truce that is still very fragile, but then it must truly transform into a moment of peace," said Tajani, who is also deputy premier.
    "A ceasefire is starting now.
    "All parties must do their utmost to ensure that it can consolidate, so that from a first phase we can then move on to the second and then the third", said Tajani, speaking on the sidelines of a conference on Don Luigi Sturzo at Caltagirone.
    "Italy wants to be a protagonist in this construction of peace as it has been in the past", he stressed.
    The truce in Gaza came into effect at 10:15 Sunday, the start of which had been postponed due to delays by Hamas in sending the list of the first three hostages to be freed Sunday.
    The list was then delivered: they are Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher.
    The delivery was confirmed by Israel which in exchange will release 90 Palestinian women held in Israeli prisons.
    "Quiet has fallen in Gaza, the bombings have stopped", residents of the Strip told ANSA.
    Tajani went on to stress further: "We must understand that the ceasefire, in these early stages, is still fragile and we must do everything possible to support the parties.
    "As the flow of hostages returning home increases on the one hand and the flow of food and energy aid on the other, we will have to increase mutual trust and the desire to definitively put an end to the conflict", said Tajani "This is why my mission tomorrow - he added - will serve to give a clear signal that with peace and stability in Israel but also in the entire region, isolation ends".
    "The PNA (Palestinian National Authority in the West Bank) cannot yet regain control of Gaza - Tajani said -. "We must work for a positive first phase of six weeks to open the doors to the second. Italy, with the EU and with friendly Arab countries, will be engaged in this long marathon to build peace.
    "In Israel and Palestine - he added - I will repeat this message.
    "Italy also wants to be the guarantor of this truce and I hope that in the future we can also have the reunification of Palestine, Gaza and the West Bank, to then give life, in the future, to a Palestinian state that recognizes Israel and is recognized by Israel.
    "The objective - Tajani recalled - is always that of peace and I also hope that we can finally get to sign the Abraham Accords, which are the ones that, hated by Hamas, have caused everything that has happened in recent months". (ANSA).