On Wednesday 1 November, the EU welcomed the evacuation of around seven wounded Palestinians and more than 300 foreigners and dual nationals, including Europeans, through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on the same day.
Further evacuations were due to take place on Thursday 2 November, when Egypt announced that it was going to help evacuate around 7,000 foreigners and dual nationals from the Gaza Strip (see other news).
In a press release, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the High Representative for the Union, Josep Borrell, thanked Cairo for its efforts, described by Mrs von der Leyen as “admirable”, to enable these departures. Mr Borrell also thanked the United States and Qatar for negotiating this humanitarian agreement.
The Europeans promised to remain fully mobilised to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza. “We call for humanitarian corridors and pauses to address the urgent needs. Protecting civilians and easing the increasingly dire situation is our priority”, promised the High Representative. On Thursday 2, Mrs von der Leyen announced that the Commission would soon be releasing a further €10 million in aid for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
Dismay with regard to the bombing of the Jabalia camp
The High Representative also expressed his “dismay” at the high number of casualties following Israel’s bombing of the Jabalia refugee camp on 31 October. The bombing of the camp, which according to the UN is home to 116,000 people, left at least 50 dead and several hundred injured, according to Hamas.
“Israel has the right to defend itself in compliance with international humanitarian law and by ensuring the protection of all civilians”, Mr Borrell reiterated on X (formerly Twitter). “The laws of war and humanity must always apply, including when it comes to humanitarian aid”, he stressed, adding that the safety and protection of civilians was a legal and moral obligation.
EU denounces settler “terrorism”
On the evening of Tuesday 31 October, the spokesman for the European External Action Service denounced the increase in settler violence in the West Bank, describing it for the first time as “terrorism”.
“The upsurge of settler terrorism in the West Bank has led to very high numbers of civilian casualties and Palestinian communities being forced out of their homes”, he lamented. According to the spokesman, the situation is in danger of spiralling out of control, causing untold suffering to local communities. “Urgent measures are needed”, the EEAS representative alerted. Two Palestinians and an Israeli were killed in violence on Thursday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health and Israeli emergency services.
The EEAS spokesman reiterated Israel’s duty to protect civilians in the West Bank from extremist settler violence, to hold perpetrators accountable and to ensure that the IDF intervenes. “It is a legal obligation that must be fulfilled”, he insisted.
The spokesman added that the situation in the West Bank was adding to an “already tragic” situation in Gaza, increasing the risk of a dangerous escalation of the conflict, “which must be avoided at all costs”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)