Urged on by her political opponents in a debate ahead of the European elections, the President of the European Commission, and EPP Spitzenkandidat, Ursula von der Leyen, took a harder line than usual against the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Asked whether an attack on Rafah would be a “red line” that should not be crossed, Ms von der Leyen explained that she would never “draw a red line”. “But I think it would be totally unacceptable for Netanyahu to invade Rafah”, she explained. If this were the case, the European Commission would “sit down with [the] Member States and act accordingly”, she warned.
Ms von der Leyen also highlighted her visit to Rafah. In her opinion, seeing “how many innocent civilians are dying is unbearable and unacceptable”.
On Tuesday 30 April, Mr Netanyahu promised to enter Rafah and eliminate the Hamas battalions, with or without a truce agreement, “in order to achieve total victory”.
According to Ms von der Leyen, we need “a ceasefire now, as well as the release of the hostages, and we need to sit down and work on a two-state solution now, because this is the only solution to bring peace to the region”.
Measures against Israel would require unanimity among the Member States, which seems difficult to achieve on this issue. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)