The EU heads of state or government, meeting in Brussels on Thursday 21 March, called for “an immediate humanitarian pause leading to a sustainable ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages and the provision of humanitarian assistance” and urged Israel to refrain from a military operation on Rafah, where over a million Palestinians are crammed in search of food assistance.
Recognising the right of the Hebrew State to defend itself “in accordance with international law”, and again condemning the Hamas terrorist attacks of 7 October, the European Council invited the Council of the EU to speed up work on the adoption of new restrictive measures against Hamas.
“Palestinians on the ground are used as shields by Hamas. There are many civilian casualties that could be avoided if Hamas immediately laid down its arms and released all the hostages”, said Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer.
With starvation threatening more than 1.1 million Gazans, “the highest number ever recorded” by the United Nations (UN), the European Council expressed its “dismay” at the “unprecedented loss of civilian life”. The European Council said it was “deeply concerned” by the “catastrophic humanitarian situation” in Gaza, and its “disproportionate impact on civilians, particularly children”.
One million children have been displaced, more than 30,000 injured or killed, while thousands more are still missing, according to the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council, which on Wednesday 20 March joined with the European Commission in calling for “urgent action” to guarantee respect for the rights of Palestinian children in Gaza and the West Bank and to strengthen humanitarian action based on international law (see EUROPE 13375/18).
Delivering humanitarian aid. The EU leaders called for “full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access into and throughout the Gaza Strip via all routes” in order to provide vital assistance to the civilian population.
They also welcomed the opening of a maritime route from Cyprus (see EUROPE 13369/3), which “supplements” the land routes for delivering humanitarian aid.
On Thursday, Cyprus brought together 36 countries, as well as representatives of UN agencies and humanitarian organisations, to work out ways of transporting more food by sea, organising the distribution of shipments to Gaza and financing operations.
The President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, expressed his satisfaction with the financial commitments made at the meeting, according to AFP. “The European Union is expected to contribute around €70 million to the first tranche of the fund”, he said, pointing to a pledge of €10 million from the Netherlands.
A small humanitarian vessel belonging to the NGO ‘Open Arms’ left the port of Larnaca on Tuesday 12 March and took three days to reach the Palestinian enclave (see EUROPE 13369/3). Since then, a second boat, named ‘Jennifer’ has been waiting for the right weather conditions to set sail for Gaza.
UNRWA. The heads of state or government returned to the subject of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) over lunch with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres. They stressed that the services provided by UNRWA were “essential” and “(took) note” of the recent measures and financial support provided by the EU.
Link to the European Council conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/bgv (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit with the editorial staff)