EU Foreign Ministers have endorsed a “humanitarian pause” in the war between Israel and Hamas in order to allow aid to get into Gaza in sufficient quantities.
EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell admitted the EU could not “decree” a temporary cessation in hostilities during the ministers meeting in Luxembourg but said it would help send a message to Israel.
EU leaders are scheduled to discuss the issue at a summit on Thursday, October 26, 2023, after rifts emerged within the bloc over how to respond.
Borrell said that reconnecting electricity supplies full-time to Gaza was essential.
He stated that without electricity, the desalination plants could not work and without those, there would be no water and hospitals would “barely function.”
EU members such as France, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovenia and Luxembourg were in support of the idea for a humanitarian pause.
Irish Foreign Minister, Micheál Martin, said, “There’s a vital need to get water, to get food, to get medical supplies into Gaza.” He added, “The degree of human suffering is immense. We have to distinguish between the civilians of Gaza and Hamas.”
However, some other Ministers openly expressed reservations about the proposal or avoided a direct answer when asked about it.
Some questioned whether a pause would impede Israel’s right to defend itself as it seeks to destroy Hamas positions in Gaza.
When asked why Germany had not backed calls for a humanitarian ceasefire, Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, said that recent days had shown the importance of getting aid into Gaza but also made clear that Hamas was continuing to attack Israel.
“We’ve all seen that the terrorism continues non-stop, that massive rocket attacks against Israel are taking place,” she said. “We can’t end the humanitarian catastrophe when the terrorism from Gaza continues,” she added.
“Of course everyone would wish that the violence comes to an end. But Israel has the right to self-defence,” said the Austrian foreign minister, Alexander Schallenberg.
Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavsky cast doubt on the feasibility of achieving a temporary ceasefire with the Islamist group in charge of Gaza.
“There is a terrorist organisation controlling Gaza, sending rockets every day, that perpetrated a barbarous attack on Israel territory,” he said. “So the question is how such a ceasefire should be established. It needs to be established on both sides.”
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani echoed that, saying: “We can’t tell Israel to stop defending itself when Hamas is firing missiles at its cities.”
Ireland’s Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said his country understood “Israel’s need to deal with Hamas because this was an appalling attack”.
“But the degree of suffering – innocent civilians in Gaza are suffering – it’s not acceptable at all and in our view that’s why we believe a humanitarian pause is required to at a minimum get aid and supplies in.”
Only 54 Aid Trucks In Gaza
Speaking from occupied East Jerusalem, Stephen Ryan, spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), disclosed that only 54 trucks of humanitarian aid have entered the Gaza Strip so far.
Ryan stated that the organisation is ready to send more and has been calling for a sustained flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, but “what’s needed right now is to make sure that that actually happens.”
“We have teams on standby as well as relief ready to go and these are definitely needed items, including medical supplies. Our teams in Gaza have visited some of the hospitals and they’ve seen firsthand how difficult and challenging the situation is.
“In addition, the damage to infrastructure is going to be a major concern, because it’s not just a question of goods crossing the border; it’s also getting them to where they’re needed most.”
Stephen Ryan
This came after the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) announced that it received 20 trucks worth of aid from its Egyptian counterpart via the Rafah crossing on Monday, October 23, 2023.
“This is the third humanitarian aid shipment from the Egyptian Red Crescent, which includes food, medicine, and medical supplies,” the PRCS said.
