On Monday 14 May, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini urged Israelis and Palestinians to exercise the "utmost restraint", as the situation rapidly deteriorates.
"We expect all to act with utmost restraint to avoid further loss of life", she said in a statement. At least 52 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds wounded by gunfire from the Israeli army as they were demonstrating in Gaza against the inauguration of the US embassy in Jerusalem.
"Israel must respect the right to peaceful protest and the principle of proportionality in the use of force. Hamas and those leading the demonstrations in Gaza must ensure that they remain strictly non-violent and must not exploit them for other means", Mogherini warned. Since her statement, Israel has begun to bomb Hamas targets in Gaza.
"Any further escalation of an already extremely tense and complex situation would cause again further unspeakable sufferings to both peoples, and will make the perspective of peace and security even more remote", she said, adding that "wisdom and courage would be needed to go back to negotiations for a political solution".
Clear position from EU on Jerusalem
Mogherini also reiterated that the EU has a "clear, consolidated position" on Jerusalem. On 12 May, the Czech Republic took pride that with Romania and Hungary it blocked a joint EU statement criticising the transfer of the US embassy to Jerusalem. "The European Union has a clear, consolidated position on Jerusalem, which was reaffirmed in numerous Foreign Affairs Council conclusions: the EU will continue to respect the international consensus on Jerusalem embodied in, inter alia, UN Security Council Resolution 478, including on the location of diplomatic representations until the final status of Jerusalem is resolved", she stated.
This resolution of 20 August 1980 calls on the states to withdraw their diplomatic missions from Jerusalem. "The ties of the Jewish people to Jerusalem are irrefutable, and must not be denied. And the same is true for the ties of the Palestinian people to the city", she added. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)