The spokesperson of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Maja Kocijancic, called on Monday, May 6, for respect of the Egyptian-mediated ceasefire negotiated overnight between Israelis and Palestinians.
Calm seemed to have returned on Monday, May 6, the first day of Ramadan, after the ceasefire, which ended two days of tensions between Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and Israel, came into effect. These tensions reportedly resulted in the deaths of 25 civilians and fighters on the Palestinian side and 4 civilians on the Israeli side.
More than 690 rockets were fired in 48 hours from Gaza, of which more than 500 reached Israeli territory and at least 35 fell into urban areas, according to the Israeli army. In retaliation, the latter hit more than 350 targets of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza.
“It is particularly important that the ceasefire be respected”, Ms. Kocijancic told the media. “Israelis and Palestinians have the right to live in peace, security and dignity” and “only a political solution can put an end to the violence”, she added.
The day before, the EU High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, had reiterated, in a statement, the Europeans' “full” support for Egyptian and UN efforts to reduce tensions, expecting the parties to work with them to restore calm. “Together with the international community, we will keep working to bring relief to all those suffering from this conflict and cooperating with those who serve the cause of peace”, she said.
She had urged an immediate end to the indiscriminate rocket attacks by Palestinian militants in Gaza, attacks that “provoke unspeakable suffering to the Israelis and serve only the cause of endless violence and of an endless conflict”. For Ms Mogherini, a new escalation risks also to reverse the work to relieve the suffering of the people in Gaza and put “in further danger the prospects for long-term solutions, which will require the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza, credible security guarantees for Israel and a lifting of restrictions of access and movement”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)