On Thursday 18 January, MEPs called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and a resumption of efforts towards a political solution, “provided that all hostages are immediately and unconditionally released and the terrorist organisation Hamas is dismantled”.
They adopted an amendment proposed by the EPP group (257 votes in favour, 242 against and 17 abstentions), which was stricter than the original text, which did not make a direct link between the release of the hostages and the dismantling of Hamas and the permanent ceasefire. The majority of MEPs from the EPP, ECR and ID groups voted in favour, Renew Europe was divided and the Greens/EFA and The Left voted against.
In the resolution adopted, which was the subject of lengthy negotiations between the political groups (312 votes in favour, 131 against and 72 abstentions), the European Parliament reaffirmed its condemnation, in the strongest possible terms, of the “despicable” terrorist attacks committed by Hamas against Israel and condemned Israel’s “disproportionate” military response, “which has caused a civilian death toll of unprecedented scale”.
It points out that Israel has the right to defend itself within the limits of international law, “which outlines that all parties to a conflict must distinguish between combatants and civilians at all times”, and that attacks must be directed solely against military objectives and must not target civilians or civilian infrastructure.
The European Parliament also stressed its deep concern at the “dire humanitarian situation” in the Gaza Strip, “which is rapidly deteriorating and its grave impact on the civilian population”, highlighting “the urgent need for full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to and throughout the entire Gaza Strip”.
MEPs also reiterated their calls for an end to the occupation of the Palestinian territories and called for a de-escalation of tensions in the West Bank. Strongly condemning the rise in extremist violence by settlers against Palestinians, the European Parliament called for restrictive measures to be imposed on extremist settlers who violate human rights and international law.
It also reaffirmed the EU’s strong support for the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and called for those responsible for terrorist acts and violations of international law to be held accountable.
MEPs also reiterated their call for the rapid implementation of de-escalation measures between Israel and Lebanon and condemned, in the strongest possible terms, the Houthi attacks on commercial vessels. They called on the Member States to make an immediate and concerted effort to respond to these attacks, in particular by creating a naval operation under the Common Security and Defence Policy.
Finally, the European Parliament called for a European initiative to get the two-state solution back on track, stressing the absolute need to relaunch the peace process immediately.
See the resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/ag3 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)