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Middle East tragedy is a moral failure of Western diplomacy – EU High Representative

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

06 November 2023 13:48 (UTC +04:00)

The conflict between Palestine and Israel is not of an ethnic or religious nature, it is a national issue. This is related to both peoples’ rights to live on the same land," High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said as he made a speech at the meeting of EU ambassadors, APA reports.

According to him, both peoples have the right to live in the same territory: "Two peoples must share living in peace. They say that there is no document or agreement about this, but there is the very agreement and it is the Oslo Accord. However, this agreement did not materialize and that is the problem. This conflict has intensified over the years. There have been attacks by Hamas, Israel's responses to them, as a result of which there have been mass civilian casualties.

The question arises why did the Oslo Accord fail? Because certain forces appeared from both sides and prevented it, they denied and did not recognize each other's rights to live and exist. Israel's colonization on the west bank of the Jordan River increased, Palestinians were oppressed, and radical religious groups and armed detachments made use of what happened over the years,” Borrell added.

“The tragedy in the Middle East is the moral failure of Western diplomacy as a result of the lack of efforts to achieve peace,” he added.