Europe

Home page

Europe

EU’s foreign policy chief Borrell backs pause in Israel-Hamas war

Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

23 October 2023 19:14 (UTC +04:00)

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has backed calls for a pause in the Israel-Hamas war, describing the limited supply of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip as “not enough”, APA reports citing AlJazeera.

Borrell said on Monday that the “most important thing” was to get more humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave, home to more than two million people.

“Personally, I think a humanitarian pause is needed in order to allow the humanitarian support to come in and be distributed, seeing that half of the population of Gaza has been moving from their houses,” he told reporters before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

Borrell said Hamas also must stop its rocket attacks on Israel and release the more than 200 people Israeli officials say have been taken captive as “part of any step towards de-escalation”.

His comments came as the bloc debates calls for a pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas amid warnings of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Israel has been bombarding the enclave after imposing a “total” blockade, pledging to eliminate Hamas for the armed group’s October 7 attacks inside the country, which Israeli officials say killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians.

Israeli air raids have killed more than 4,500 Palestinians, mainly children and women, in the enclave, according to Palestinian authorities.

United Nations officials have warned that the 2.3 million residents of Gaza are on the brink of starvation and at risk of cholera and other serious diseases due to the collapse of water and sanitation services.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last week called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and the release of captives held by Hamas.

The United States on Wednesday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have called for a pause in fighting to allow humanitarian assistance into the enclave while also condemning Hamas’s attacks inside Israel.