THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL IS JAVIER SOLANA: European Union foreign policy chief Solana almost seems to be coming around, but not quite:

The European Union foreign policy chief suggested on Monday that Iran could be linked to the Hamas military takeover of Gaza, recent attacks on the Lebanese army, and on European peacekeepers in Lebanon.

Javier Solana, who has led efforts to bring Iran back to the negotiating table over its nuclear programme, stopped short of blaming Tehran outright, but said the incidents could not be treated separately.

"What happened in Gaza cannot be seen separately from what happened in Lebanon," he told a conference on the Middle East hosted by the Socialist group of the European Parliament.

It's nice that Solana actually agrees that there is an Iran/Hamas connection, but that only leads him to the expected knee-jerk response:

He said it was important to provide a new political impetus to the peace process, not just financial and humanitarian aid to the Palestinian government.

At the same time, Solana also claims that international peacekeeping forces will be needed, but are not an immediate priority--sure, why put international forces at risk when Israel is available.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Javier Solana.