EU foreign ministers are struggling to find a common line in the Middle East conflict. The central question is whether a humanitarian ceasefire should be demanded. Although EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for a ceasefire at the start of the meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) did not want to participate directly. It is necessary to put oneself in Israel’s shoes, he emphasized.
According to Schallenberg, Israel should not be placed on the same level as the radical Islamist Hamas. “Yes, of course everyone would like the violence to end. But Israel has the right to self-defense.” However, Israeli actions are subject to international law. Schallenberg sees a clear difference here: “The Israelis call before they bomb a building. They publicly call for the evacuation of northern Gaza. The request is clearly to avoid civilian casualties. It’s different with Hamas, they are looking for civilian casualties.”
Two themes are of central importance to Schallenberg at the meeting of EU foreign ministers: The conflict must be prevented from spreading. Furthermore, all the hostages that Hamas took in its attack two weeks ago would have to be released. To this end, we also have to dialogue with the States that still have contacts with Hamas and that exercise influence over it.
For EU Foreign Affairs Representative Borrell, the release of the hostages is an important step towards de-escalation. But the most important thing is that humanitarian aid reaches the Gaza Strip as quickly as possible. In this context, Foreign Ministers would also discuss a humanitarian ceasefire today. This has also been demanded by several EU states such as France, Spain, Ireland and Belgium, as well as UN Secretary-General António Guterres, so that aid can be delivered in safe conditions. The aid deliveries that reached Gaza through Egypt in recent days would not be enough. Above all, fuel is necessary to guarantee the supply of energy and water through desalination plants.
The peace process in the Middle East conflict has been forgotten for too long and now the work must continue, the EU’s chief diplomat said. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) made similar comments. “Israelis and Palestinians will only be able to live in peace and security in the long term (…) with a two-state solution.” However, the German politician did not speak out in favor of a humanitarian ceasefire. The humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip cannot be contained as long as Hamas terrorism continues. That’s why fighting them is important, said Baerbock, who spoke of “squaring the circle” that the EU must face.
Diplomats reported in advance rising tensions and significant differences of opinion regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. On the one hand, there are states like Germany and Hungary that fundamentally view the current counterattack by the Israeli army as legitimate self-defense. On the other hand, there are countries such as Spain, Ireland and Belgium that criticize Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip controlled by Hamas and call for a humanitarian ceasefire taking into account the many civilian victims.
In addition to the situation in the Middle East, EU foreign ministers will also discuss on Monday more military aid to Ukraine and the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.