A truce allowed the release of many hostages, but the resumption of the Israeli offensive in Palestinian territory, which causes many civilian casualties, polarizes opinions in the EU. The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, was even the target of a kind of audience boycott, in a session at the beginning of the week, where he spoke about Israeli military activities.
“What we are seeing in Gaza is another carnage. We don’t know how many victims, nobody knows. Some estimate that there are around 15 thousand, but I fear that under the rubble of the destroyed houses there must be many more, with a large number of children”, said Borrell, when a member of the panel alerted him that there were people abandoning the living room.
“Are people leaving the room? Why? Maybe I said something inappropriate”, he commented.
Borrell added that “one horror cannot justify another horror and the international community is increasingly speaking out to put an end to this horror.”
There are different opinions and this is what the high representative must reflect. Not just one side of the story.
Antonio López-Istúriz
MEP, center right, Spain
A center-right Spanish MEP, Antonio López-Istúriz, told euronews that Borrell’s diplomacy is not impartial and that he follows the political agenda of the Spanish socialist government.
“We have to wait for the European Council to see the positions of the different Member States and whether we can reach a common position. That would be ideal. But, however, there are different opinions and this is what the high representative must reflect. Not just one side of the story,” he explained.
The defenders and the most critical
The visit of the heads of government of Belgium and Spain to Israel, where they criticized the disproportionate use of force against Palestinian civilians, created strong tension with the government in Tel Aviv.
Spain, Belgium and Ireland have been some of the EU countries most critical of Israel, while Germany, Austria and Hungary have been some of the staunchest defenders of the right to self-defense.
“Everyone in the European Union naturally agrees that civilian casualties in Gaza must be avoided. This is something that is clearly mentioned in all capitals. However, where we see divisions between Member States is in Israel’s right to self-defense,” said analyst Bruno Lété, from the German Marshall Fund of the US, speaking to euronews.
“Some member states are taking this argument very seriously and support Israel in this matter. But we see other Member States that effectively try to water down this right to self-defense, arguing that there must be proportionality and that Israel’s response is not at all proportional”, he concluded.
EU leaders must clarify their position, at a time when the UN has described conditions in Gaza as “apocalyptic”.
Por Sandor Zsiros