Blair scraps Gaza visit after Israel warns of assassination plans by Palestinians

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Mr Blair, the envoy for the Middle East peace ‘quartet’ of the UN, EU, U.S. and Russia, was in his official convoy speeding towards a Gaza-Israel border crossing when he was phoned by Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak.

Mr Barak told him the secret service had received an intelligence warning of ‘a very serious’ threat to assassinate him.

Tony Blair was due to visit Gaza but cancelled after a security threat

Mr Blair’s advance security detail had already passed through the Erez checkpoint, but Mr Blair ordered the convoy to turn back to his office in Jerusalem.

He said the threat had been ‘specific’ and ‘credible’, but that he had postponed the visit rather than cancelled it.

Hamas, the Islamic militant group which was co-ordinating security for the visit, described the Israeli warning as ‘a lie’.

'The Israeli occupation exerted great pressure to prevent Tony Blair from visiting the Gaza Strip because they did not want him to see the size of the disaster caused by the unjust blockade,' said Taher al-Nunu.