The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, is on an official trip to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories on Thursday 13 and Friday 14 February. She is the first European leader to have entered Gaza for more than 10 years, according to the European Parliament. “At this critical moment for the region and the world, I wanted to come here to underline and witness first hand Europe’s critical role in getting humanitarian aid into Gaza”, she said.
The programme for her trip included a meeting with Amir Ohan, Speaker of the Knesset, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and President Isaac Herzog.
President Metsola is also due to hold talks on Friday with the Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Hussein al-Sheikh, and with Reem Al Hajajra, Director of the Women of the Sun organisation and 2024 Sakharov Prize nominee.
Through her discussions, Roberta Metsola conveyed Europe’s willingness to engage constructively with partners in the region, to secure the ceasefire and hostage exchanges, and to “provide a path to a sustainable peace in the region that can ensure security for Israel and a real perspective to the Palestinian people”, said the European Parliament in a press release. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)