On Monday 14 October, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, called for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, while the Israeli response to the Iranian attack is still pending.
“From the outset, we have condemned the attacks by Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, and that had to be done, but we must be clear about what the Israeli leaders are doing and about what seems to be a total determination to pursue their military objective at great cost”, stressed Mr Borrell, believing that a new red line had been crossed with the attacks by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) against the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
A statement by the High Representative on behalf of the EU, which had been under discussion for several days, finally achieved consensus at the EU Council meeting in Luxembourg on Sunday 13 and Monday 14 October, with many foreign ministers denouncing the attacks. Sixteen EU Member States have troops or personnel in UNIFIL.
“Such attacks against UN peacekeepers constitute a grave violation of international law and are totally unacceptable. These attacks must stop immediately”, stressed the High Representative in the joint statement. He urged all parties to fully respect their obligations to guarantee the safety of UNIFIL personnel at all times and to allow UNIFIL to continue to implement its mandate.
On his arrival at the EU Council, the Austrian minister, Alexander Schallenberg, called for UNIFIL’s UN Security Council mandate to be respected. “It’s not up to a state or a terrorist organisation (Hezbollah) to try to change that”, he warned.
“We urgently await explanations and a thorough investigation from the Israeli authorities about the attacks against UNIFIL, which plays a fundamental role in the stability of south Lebanon”, stressed Mr Borrell in his statement. According to the Israelis, the shots were accidental.
More broadly, the Member States expressed their deep concern at Hezbollah’s continued firing of rockets into Israel, “which must stop”, and at the Israeli army’s strikes in densely populated areas of Lebanon. “The Lebanese are not responsible for Hezbollah’s bombings. If 70,000 Israelis who had to leave their homes have to go back, 1.2 million Lebanese (in southern Lebanon) have the same rights, but they will have nowhere to go, because everything is destroyed”, Mr Borrell denounced.
All parties must commit to and work towards the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701, according to the EU27. “The use of force must now give way to dialogue, negotiation and diplomacy”, warned the French minister, Jean-Noël Barrot.
Humanitarian aid. The European foreign affairs ministers came back on the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories and Lebanon.
The High Representative spoke of the humanitarian emergency in the Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza. The town, in the north of the Gaza Strip, was the target of Israeli strikes on Friday 11 October, resulting in the deaths of 30 people. “400,000 people are being requested to leave again the North to the South. [They go] from the South to the North, from the North to the South. These people are exhausted”, deplored Mr Borrell. He went on to add: “The level of humanitarian support – measured by the number of trucks entering into Gaza – is at the lowest level since the beginning of the war. Famine is being used as a weapon of war”.
The ministers also reaffirmed their support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). “The ministers asked the European Commission to disburse the final payment to UNRWA immediately, within the next few days”, said the High Representative.
Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares Bueno, defended the UN agency, describing it as “indispensable for feeding and educating six million Palestinians”, in the face of attempts to “tarnish its reputation when it is carrying out an absolutely essential humanitarian mission”.
UNRWA is facing the threat of the cessation of its operations as a result of an Israeli bill under discussion in the Knesset.
On Saturday 12 October, the EU had already expressed its concern. “The EU urges the Israeli authorities to ensure that UNRWA is allowed to continue carrying out its crucial work in line with its mandate adopted by the UN General Assembly. UNRWA provides essential services to millions of people in Gaza, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and across the region, including Lebanon, Syria and Jordan and is a pillar of regional stability”, stated a press release from the European External Action Service.
The ministers also discussed the humanitarian aid to be provided to the Lebanese people. “We obviously need to go further”, France’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, told the press, including Agence Europe, referring to his recent trip to the region.
France is organising an international conference on Lebanon which will be held on Thursday 24 October, with the aim of mobilising the international community to meet the protection and emergency relief needs of the Lebanese people.
Discussion on Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law
The High Representative also announced a discussion to be held at the November EU ‘Foreign Affairs’ Council – his last – between the Member States on Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law, in accordance with the EU/Israel Association Agreement. In February, the Irish and Spanish leaders asked the European Commission to check whether Israel was respecting human rights in Gaza, a request that has still not been answered (see EUROPE 13350/1).
With the EU and Israel unable to agree on an agenda for an Association Council, Mr Borrell proposed that “the Council should take its responsibilities and try to give its response, evaluate and discuss”. “There is no need to wait for the European Commission’s decision, as this is a political issue”, Mr Borrell explained. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant and Bernard Denuit)