From Le Figaro with AFP
Published yesterday at 10:58 p.m., updated yesterday at 11:10 p.m.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel met via video conference in Brussels on Tuesday. JOHANNA GERON / Portal
At a video conference meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, EU leaders sought to formulate a common line and send a balanced message amid the war between Israel and Hamas.
Europeans met via videoconference on Tuesday evening, October 17, seeking to present a unified position on the war between Israel and Hamas after several days of cacophony in Brussels.
The European heads of state and government first observed a minute of silence “for all the innocent victims” who have lost their lives since the beginning of this war between Israel and Hamas, but also the recent attacks in France and Belgium. EU leaders reaffirmed “Israel’s right to defend itself in accordance with humanitarian and international law” in the face of Hamas’s “terrorist attacks” and said they had mobilized “the most vulnerable populations in a humanitarian manner “to support it,” said European Council President Charles Michel.
The “great danger” of an expansion of the conflict
The latter expressed his “dismay” at the announcement of an attack on a hospital in the Gaza Strip and stressed that an “attack on civilian infrastructure is not in accordance with international law.” Hamas blamed Israel, while the Israeli military blamed the attack on a botched rocket attack by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization.
There is one country that is benefiting – at least indirectly – from this serious escalation of violence in this region of the world: Russia. »
Charles Michel, President of the European Council
During a final press conference at the end of the three-hour emergency meeting, Charles Michel also highlighted the risks of expanding the conflict, which would pose a “great danger” to the entire world while the war against Ukraine rages on. “I note that there is undoubtedly one country that is benefiting, at least indirectly, from this serious escalation of violence in this region of the world, namely Russia,” said Charles Michel, adding that Moscow is trying “to exploit this situation “. feeding a narrative against the EU. “Let us not fall into this trap,” he demanded after the meeting, which was not attended by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who met Russian President Vladimir Putin in China on Tuesday.
Clarification of the EU position
The informal European summit, as well as the adoption of a joint statement by the Twenty-Seven on Sunday, served to clarify the European position after a series of criticisms of the message of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, during her recent stay in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously supported Israel’s right to self-defense, without adding that this response must be in accordance with humanitarian and international law. “There is no contradiction between reaffirming solidarity with Israel and advocating for the humanitarian needs of the Palestinians,” the German official said on Tuesday during this final press conference, which she attended via video conference.
Now is not the time for contradictory messages. What we need is decisive moral leadership focused on peace. »
Oxfam
Last week the Commission also caused confusion over aid to the Palestinians, of which the EU is the main donor. Hungarian Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi announced a payment freeze, sparking outrage in some capitals. Before resolving the issue, the European executive said an “urgent review” of development aid was underway and humanitarian aid was not affected. Ursula von der Leyen then announced that this humanitarian aid would be tripled to 75 million euros. In their joint statement, the Twenty-Seven declare that they “stand ready to continue to support civilians who need it most in Gaza (…) and to ensure that this assistance is not misused by terrorist organizations.” They also call on Hamas to release all hostages immediately and without preconditions.
“Now is not the time for contradictory messages. What we need is decisive moral leadership focused on peace. “With every passing minute, civilians pay a higher price,” warned Vittorio Infante of the NGO Oxfam, which had to stop its work in Gaza after Israel’s evacuation order.
A European source admits that it was not easy to reach this joint statement from member states, which have different sensitivities to the conflict. More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel since the war began; according to Israel, most of the civilians died on October 7, the day of the bloody Hamas attack in which 199 people were kidnapped. According to local authorities, Israel’s retaliatory strikes killed about 3,000 people, mostly civilians, including hundreds of children.