EU states competing over Israel policy

France and the UK have proposed that the EU should monitor cargo entering the Gaza strip from Israel, with Spain, Portugal and Ireland also coming forward with fresh initiatives in the wake of the flotilla attack.

"We can check the cargo of ships heading toward Gaza - we can do it, we want to do it, we would gladly do it," French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner said after a dinner with the new UK foreign secretary William Hague in London on Sunday (6 June). "The European Union must pa...