AMMAN – The High Representative of the
EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said on Monday, "The
current tragedy in Gaza is the outcome of a decade-long global political and
moral failure, for which the Israeli and Palestinian are paying a high p rice.
اضافة اعلان
In an interview with the Jordan News Agency,
Petra, Borrell added that the international community has formally committed
itself to the
two-state solution without a roadmap to achieve it effectively.
He said the Abraham Accord led many to believe
that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could be overlooked, adding that the war
"dispelled that illusion”.
“This time, we must finally
end the vicious circle of violence,” he said.
He said that the EU is urging Israel to
exercise maximum restraint to minimize civilian casualties, avoiding bombing
civilian facilities and stating that cutting off food, water, electricity and
fuel to the besieged population of Gaza was "not acceptable."
"We have quadrupled our
humanitarian aid to Gaza to 100 million euros and organized an air bridge to bring the most
urgently needed products to Rafah, in Egypt," he added.
On discrepancies amongst
EU member states regarding the Israeli war on Gaza, Borrell said, "We are a Union of 27
different countries that have been at war with each other for centuries with
rivers of blood and millions of dead, but now we live in peace for nearly
eighty years," adding that "the war must be the last one."
He explained that the EU issued a call for an
immediate halt to the Israeli war on Gaza, a call that the German Chancellor
rejected.
He said the EU is "living proof"
that it would be possible to make peace in the Middle East, including between
Israel and Palestine.
“Our 27 member states sometimes have different
views on many issues because of their dissimilar histories, cultures, and
geographies. It is indeed also the case in some aspects of the
current crisis in Gaza."
He added that EU member states agree on the
urgent need to put an end to the dramatic humanitarian situation of the
civilian population in Gaza and to restart a political process leading to a
two-state solution.
On the EU's failure to condemn Israel's targeting
of hospitals and UNRWA schools, Borrell said, "We need to improve our
outreach on what we say and what we do," adding, "the last statement
of the 27 EU countries from 12 November says clearly that 'international
humanitarian law stipulates that hospitals, medical supplies and civilians
inside hospitals must be protected.'"
He urged Israel to exercise restraint to
ensure the protection of civilians, noting the incidents where Israeli
warplanes struck a Jordanian field hospital and injured seven staff.
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