One month before the end of the war in Gaza, the head of European diplomacy, Joseph Borrellregretted on Tuesday that there were “no positive prospects in sight”, mainly due to the “intransigence” Already “total impunity” of the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In CairoFrom where he began his new tour of the Middle East, the Spanish diplomat hardened his speech against the government of Israel, which he accuses of creating obstacles to the agreement of a truce in the Gaza Strip and of further straining the situation not only in the Palestinian enclave, but in the entire region.
At a press conference with the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Badr AbdelatyBorrell recalled that the European Union (EU) has given “its full support” to the mediation efforts of Egypt, Qatar and the United States to implement a ceasefire, a concept repeated like a mantra in recent months that, however, is not coming to fruition.
“Why? It’s very simple: because those who wage a war have no interest in ending it. So they pretend. Less and less, because their intransigence is accompanied by total impunity and their actions have no consequences,” he said. Borrell said in direct reference to the executive of Netanyahu.
Violations of international law
Borrell, visibly frustrated by the lack of political will to end a war that has cost more than 40,000 lives in Gaza alonedenounced that “flagrant violations of international law continue to be ignored” by Israel, while wondering how they will be held accountable.
“If institutions like the International Criminal Court (ICC) are threatened, if the judgments of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) are completely ignored, what is the solution? “And who can we trust?” Borrell lamented to Abdelaty, who thanked the Spaniard for his belligerence in defending Palestinian rights.
The diplomat stressed that the EU will not skimp on supporting a ceasefire, which must be accompanied by a “political solution” to the historical conflict, the release of hostages in the hands of the group Hamas Islamist and ensure necessary humanitarian support for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
In this sense, he indicated that “a process must be initiated” implement the two-state solution – which envisions the creation of an independent Palestinian state – in addition to “seeing what kind of pressure to put on those who do not want this solution,” he said, referring to Netanyahu’s government.
Borrell then addressed the foreign ministers of the Arab League, which consists of 22 Member States who held a meeting at the organization’s headquarters in Cairo, focusing on the humanitarian situation in Gaza and also attended by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
In his speech, the Spaniard once again attacked the government of Netanyahu and he regretted that in his cabinet there were “radical” members who “are trying to make impossible” the creation of a Palestinian state.
“Not only is there no pause in the war in LoopBut what is looming on the horizon is the spread of the conflict to the West Bank, where radical members of the Israeli government, the Netanyahu government, are trying to make the creation of a future Palestinian state impossible,” he said.
Likewise, he warned that “a new front is opening with a clear objective: to transform the West Bank into a new Gaza” by increasing violence, delegitimizing the Palestinian National Authority (ANP) or “stimulating provocations”.
However, he called for a distinction to be made between the Israeli Executive and Israeli society, “deeply divided and traumatized” after the Hamas attacks of October 7, which led to the war in Gaza.
“Ostracism from Israeli society serves no purpose other than to strengthen the Masada complex, which is actually the goal pursued by extremists,” Borrell said, referring to the concept used to describe the mentality that everyone is pitted against the Jewish people.
After completing his meetings in Cairo, the Spaniard will travel to Lebanon, the scene of growing tensions between the Shiite group Hezbollah and Israel, involved in an intense exchange of border fire as part of the war in Gaza that has caused the displacement of tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border.
