On Thursday 26 October, the European Council called for pauses and humanitarian corridors in the Gaza conflict to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Palestinian enclave.
“Expressing its gravest concern for the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza”, the European Council, in the conclusions it adopted, called for “rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access and aid to reach those in need through all necessary measures including humanitarian corridors and pauses for humanitarian needs”.
The European Council also pledges that the EU will work closely with its partners in the region to protect civilians, provide assistance and facilitate access to food, water, medical care, fuel and shelter, “ensuring that such assistance is not abused by terrorist organisations”.
“We are committed to providing humanitarian support to the people of Gaza, who are also victims of Hamas, which seized power in a coup d’État and is also using its own population for its own ends”, said Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced that the 56 tonnes of humanitarian aid from the first two airlifts had been delivered to Gaza via Egypt. “More is needed, we will have our next two flights, they are scheduled for Friday, and more are planned over the following days”, she said, also explaining that the Commission will sign a €40 million agreement with the UN agencies this Friday.
Following France’s announcement that it was sending a military vessel off the coast of Gaza to transport military and humanitarian equipment and medicines, and which could be transformed into a floating hospital, the Cypriot President, Nikos Christodoulides, explained that, given its geographical location and its relations with the countries in the region, Cyprus could play a role in bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza.
According to the Irish Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, the humanitarian pauses could also allow European citizens stranded in Gaza, including 50 Irish nationals, to leave the country. European leaders discussed concerted efforts to help European citizens.
The Heads of State or Government also reiterate the importance of ensuring the protection of all civilians at all times, in accordance with international humanitarian law, and deplore all loss of civilian life.
Among other things, they “strongly” emphasise Israel’s right to defend itself in accordance with international law and international humanitarian law. Condemning Hamas in the strongest possible terms for its brutal and indiscriminate terrorist attacks in Israel, the European Council reiterates its call on Hamas to release all the hostages immediately, without any preconditions. The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said that European leaders were in contact with regional players who were working on mediation with a view to freeing the hostages.
The European Council also recalls that “the use of civilians as human shields by Hamas is a particularly deplorable atrocity”. “Hamas, as a terrorist organisation, must be destroyed”, explained Ms von der Leyen.
The leaders also stressed the need to avoid regional escalation and to cooperate with partners in this respect, including the Palestinian Authority. “We must do everything possible to avoid this escalation, and the EU has a role to play”, stressed Ms von der Leyen, recalling the contacts between European leaders and those of the region.
For the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, “one of the most effective instruments to defeat Hamas is to give concreteness to the Palestinian question, to give greater weight to the Palestinian National Authority”. In her view, this is a role that the EU can and must play, and “it is certainly one of the cornerstones of the medium-term solution”.
The EU says it is ready to contribute to the relaunch of a political process based on the two-State solution, including through the Peace Day effort, an initiative launched in September on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
It welcomes diplomatic initiatives and is in favour of an international peace conference being held in the near future. The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, called for such a conference to be organised within six months “so that the entire international community can sit down, get involved and so that we can definitively find a two-State solution for Israel and Palestine”. “In reality, it is a State, because Israel is already recognised by the international community and what needs to be recognised in this case is the Palestinian people”, he added.
The EU27 also stress the need to combat illegal content and disinformation, while highlighting the role of the major digital platforms in this context. The European Council’s conclusions come after Commissioner for Internal Market ,Thierry Breton, sent several letters last week to companies X (formerly Twitter) (see EUROPE 13271/13), Meta, TikTok (see EUROPE 13275/4), Google and YouTube (see EUROPE 13271/14), asking them to respond to the measures implemented to stop the dissemination of this type of content since the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and the violent response from the latter.
Mr Michel also explained that it was necessary to work on prevention to counter antisemitic discourse and to guarantee “as much as possible” security on European soil.
See the conclusions of the European Council: https://aeur.eu/f/9ak (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant and Thomas Mangin, with the editorial staff)