Livni - Miliband

     Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni called on the international community on Sunday night to explain to Hamas that it alone was responsible for the fate of the residents of the Gaza Strip. At the start of her meeting with visiting British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, Livni said that "as we speak, Israeli citizens are being attacked by Hamas. Israel cannot sit idly by while its citizens are being attacked. When [Israel] is attacked, it must respond." Miliband, who is in the region for a two-day visit, has expressed strong opposition to Jewish settlement in the West Bank, and officials are speaking of an economic offensive to try to force them to be taken down. During talks over the next two days in Jerusalem and Damascus, Miliband will also urge Syria to tie up peace talks with its historical enemy, Israeli and British officials said Sunday. He also has meetings scheduled in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, his office said. Miliband is pressing European partners for tighter control of imports to the European Union from the Jewish settlements, some of which are admitted at European ports as the produce of Israel and therefore enjoy tariff benefits under an Israel-EU treaty, the officials said. We know of the British concern referring to this matter," Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said. "We have been involved for some time now in dialogue with our British counterparts in order to find a way to solve this issue." British Embassy spokeswoman Karen Kaufman clarified Miliband's plans. "The foreign secretary made it clear that Britain is not trying to shift the goal posts on this issue but is following up on representations made to us about the workings of the system," she said, as Miliband began his meeting with Livni. European diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity as a fresh economic offensive on the West Bank settlements has not been officially approved, said Miliband had been trying to muster support in Brussels for tougher implementation of existing customs regulations in the hope that settlements could be placed under a siege that could help hasten their dismantlement. (12,18)