EU foreign policy chief visits Gaza

EU foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton has arrived in Gaza in the midst of renewed efforts by the US and UN to put the peace process back in motion.

The baroness will later travel to Moscow where she is to join US, UN and Russian mediators. The meeting will "demonstrate international support" for the peace talks according to US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley, reports the BBC. As Baroness Ashton arrived in Gaza a rocket was fired into Israel killing one man in Netiv Haasara, it´s the first fatal attack launched from Gaza since January 2009. An unknown group calling itself Ansar al-Sunna has claimed responsibility for the attack. It´s the first visit to the region by the Baroness since she took up her role as EU policy chief and she has already met with leaders in Beirut, Amman, Ramallah and Jerusalem. The peace talks are intended to prevent the kind of violence that was seen during an Israeli offensive in December 2008 - January 2009 which left some 1,500 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead.