The United Nations' Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will participate in a Quartet meeting scheduled to take place on July 19 in Lisbon. The meeting comes at a crucial moment and will be an opportunity to assess the recent events and discuss the way forward to advance the cause of peace in the Middle East. In particular, the Quartet principals will confer with the quartet representative, Tony Blair, on how best to assist the Palestinian Authority in building its institutions and economy, which are vital for the creation of a viable Palestinian state, said Marie Okabe, the Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General at a daily briefing. "The Secretary-General is increasingly concerned about the situation in the Gaza Strip and its impact on the economic life," she said. She also recalled the new figures, which were quoted by the Secretary General and released by the World Bank as showing that in the last month alone, 3,190 businesses have closed down forcing over 65,000 people into unemployment. "If what is left of Gaza's economy is allowed to collapse, poverty levels, already affecting an estimated two thirds of households, will rise further and the people of Gaza will become nearly totally aid dependent." "The Secretary-General called for every effort to be made to open all crossings into Gaza for the passage of humanitarian supplies and workers, as well as commercial goods. In particular, he called for the Karni crossing to be opened immediately for the passage of commercial imports and exports. In addition, the Secretary-General called for the opening of the Rafah crossing to allow into Gaza more than 4,000 Palestinians stranded in Egypt. The continued restrictions on Gaza will have a severe humanitarian impact and can only cause further sufferings to the people there."
