The Gaza Strip needs access to the outside world, with borders possibly overseen by European customs agents, to prevent it from becoming an economically depressed "prison" for the Palestinians, France's foreign minister said Monday. "We cannot let Gaza be a prison under open skies. Gaza must have entry and exit points, frontiers," Philippe Douste-Blazy said on France-Info radio. He noted that the EU has proposed that European customs agents be posted at Gaza border points, with the agreement of both the Palestinian and Israeli sides. "We cannot talk about the future of Gaza, the future of the peace process, if there is not an economy starting to develop in the Palestinian territories," Douste-Blazy was quoted as saying by The Associated Press. "That requires entry and exit points (and) a port" which France and the EU have offered to construct, he said. The last Israeli soldier departed the Gaza Strip on Monday, completing the historic Israeli pullout from the coastal territory after 38 years of military rule.
