EU Foreign Policy Chief, Josep Borrell has urged for an extension of the truce between Israel and Hamas that is in its final 24 hours.
The four-day truce is due to end on Tuesday, November 28, 2023.
In his opening remarks at the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Regional Forum 2023 in Barcelona, Borrell averred that the pause should be extended to make it “sustainable and long-lasting while working for a political solution.”
“Nothing can justify the indiscriminate brutality Hamas unleashed against civilians on October 7,” he said.
“But one horror cannot justify another horror,” he added.
Borrell noted that peace in the Israel-Palestine conflict is still far away while Palestinians need a credible political future.
Borrell emphasized that the solution to the conflict required a three-point agreement.
The first point is the non-return of Hamas to Gaza; second, avoiding the dismemberment and recolonization of Gaza by Israeli forces after the end of ground operations; and finally, preventing the continuation of the illegal colonization of the West Bank.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg said that an extension of the truce “would allow for much-needed relief to the people of Gaza and the release of more hostages.”
He added that Iran should rein in its “proxies”, in what was likely a reference to Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.
Separately, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson urged that the truce take a “stable form and that the cruel aggression of the Zionist regime against Gaza is not repeated”.
“We want and expect… that the crimes of the Zionist regime against the Palestinian people will be stopped completely,” Nasser Kanaani said.
During his weekly news conference, Kanaani told reporters that Iran is “following” the possible extension of the truce.
“We do hope the truce is extended. We have been calling for this truce to transform into a longer-term humanitarian ceasefire,” UNRWA Global Director for Communications, Juliette Touma told a news agency.
Touma, who recently visited southern Gaza, described the area as a “ghost town.”
“Everything is closed in Gaza … the shops, the pharmacies. While humanitarian assistance is fundamentally critical, and life-saving of course, it is not going to be enough in the medium to longer term.
“What needs to happen is commercial supplies that need to come in support of the private sector so it [Gaza] can stand on its own feet.”
Juliette Touma
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority(PA) disclosed that Qatar, Egypt, the U.S, the EU and Spain are working to extend the four-day truce deal.
PA’s Foreign Minister, Riyad al-Maliki said that the current truce could be extended for “one, two, three days” but added that no one knows exactly for how long.
Eilon Levy, Israeli government spokesperson, noted that Hamas was aware of Israel’s willingness to extend the truce in return for the release of 50 more captives held in Gaza.
Levy added that 184 Israelis are still detained in the Gaza Strip.
New Funds For Illegal Israeli Settlements Criticized
In a post on X after his speech, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, Josep Borrell slammed new funds designated for illegal Israeli settlements.
“I’m appalled to learn that in the middle of a war, the Israeli government is poised to commit new funds to build more illegal settlements,” he noted.
“This is not self-defense and will not make Israel safer. The settlements are grave IHL [International Humanitarian Law] breach, and they are Israel’s greatest security liability.”
Josep Borrell
The post was in response to the announcement by Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich to allocate large budgets to promote settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned the move.
“Smotrich talked about a budget adjustment that allocates millions of shekels to expand the Israeli settlements in Area C in the West Bank and allocates a budget to prevent Palestinians from building in those areas,” the ministry said in a statement posted on X.
The ministry then “warned the Israeli government of the consequences of accepting Smotrich’s demands as his demands seek to expand the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which contradicts the UN resolution of the two-state solution.”
It said that Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir were “taking advantage” of Israel’s war in Gaza by supporting settlers and Israeli forces to escalate the clashes in the West Bank.
