On Thursday 27 June, the EU27 heads of state or government called for the full implementation in the Middle East of the terms of the three-phase peace plan presented by the United States and set out in United Nations Security Council Resolution 2735 (see EUROPE 13422/11).
Meeting at the European Council, the leaders reiterated their call for the hostages to be released and for Israel to respect its international obligations “in exercising its right to defend itself”, particularly with regard to the delivery of humanitarian aid to the civilian population.
Rafah. While the European Council called for the implementation of the provisional measures of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), it did not explicitly call on Israel to put an end to its military operation on the ground in the Rafah governorate, contrary to what had been envisaged in the draft conclusions of 25 June (see EUROPE 13440/4).
West Bank. European leaders have condemned the Israeli government’s decisions “to further expand illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank” and are urging Israel to reverse these decisions. They are calling on the EU Council to press ahead with work on new restrictive measures against “extremist settlers”.
Israel/Hezbollah tensions. In view of the rising tensions between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah (see EUROPE 13438/6), the European Council is inviting the European Commission and the High Representative of the Union to work towards strengthening EU support for Lebanon, including the Lebanese Armed Forces and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
To see the conclusions of the European Council: https://aeur.eu/f/cuy (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit, with the editorial staff)