At the end of a Foreign Affairs Council at which the Ministers met the High Representative for Gaza, Nikolaï Mladenov, and the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, Alexander De Croo, the High Representative of the Union, Kaja Kallas, emphasised on Monday 23 February the support that the EU could provide to Gaza.
“The European Union supports the future of Gaza”, she promised.
Stressing that Nikolaï Mladenov and Alexander De Croo had emphasised the scale of the need for rapid reconstruction, “given the destruction and the considerable suffering of the population”, Ms Kallas reiterated that the EU could provide the necessary humanitarian aid. “But for that to happen, it has to reach the crossing points and meet basic needs”, she stressed. Adding that: “It’s not about tents, it’s about decent housing, because tents are not suitable, and also about schooling materials for the children. The list is long”.
Ms Kallas also explained that the EU, with its EUPOL COPPS mission, had experience in training the Palestinian police. “We are ready to work with Jordan and Egypt, but we need Israel’s agreement”, she recalled. A European source clarified that Israel had to give its agreement before the people to be trained could leave Gaza. On this subject, the High Representative felt that the number of crossings via Rafah, where the EU has redeployed its EUBAM mission, was still “insufficient”.
In addition to Gaza, the Ministers discussed the latest Israeli measures concerning the West Bank. “The expansion of Israel’s powers in this region violates international law and jeopardises the creation of a future Palestinian State”, warned the High Representative. “No one should underestimate the seriousness of these decisions, which must be reversed and repealed”, said French Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on his arrival at the Council meeting.
The Spanish Minister, José Manuel Albares, called for European sanctions. “We call on the EU to take a clear stand and to act, both in the face of the slow progress of negotiations on a peace agreement that has still not borne fruit, and in the face of the slow but inexorable annexation of Palestinian land in the West Bank through unacceptable measures, such as the inclusion of this land in the Israeli land register and Israel’s attempt to stifle the Palestinian Authority economically by withholding taxes”, he stressed, recalling that the EU had the necessary instruments at its disposal and “must therefore act”.
In response, the High Representative pointed out that “26 Member States are calling for sanctions against violent settlers. The issue has been on the table for some time, and one country (Hungary, Editor’s note) is not in favour of these sanctions”.
Some forty MEPs are calling for action. On the same day, 45 MEPs from the S&D Group, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA, The Left and non-attached members (NI), “strongly” condemning the Israeli measures, called on the European Commission and the Member States “to move beyond expressions of concern and implement of immediate measures to ensure accountability”. “The EU must articulate and enforce clear consequences for the continued breach of international obligations, emphasising that failure to act normalises the illegal de facto annexation and undermines the credibility of the Union’s own values”, they added.
These MEPs called for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and any other partnership or instrument that facilitates the expansion of settlements and the undermining of the Palestinian State.
They also demanded that the Hebrew State immediately cease all actions aimed at de facto annexation and repeal all legislative and administrative measures that constitute an illegal imposition of sovereignty over the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
See the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/kvl (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)