European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. File
| Photo Credit: AP

The European Union on Wednesday urged Israel to end its military operation in Gaza’s Rafah “immediately”, warning that failure to do so would undermine ties with the bloc.

“Should Israel continue its military operation in Rafah, it would inevitably put a heavy strain on the EU’s relationship with Israel,” said the statement issued in the EU’s name by its foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

“The European Union urges Israel to end its military operation in Rafah immediately,” the statement said, warning it was “further disrupting the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza and is leading to more internal displacement, exposure to famine and human suffering.”

The bloc — the main aid donor for the Palestinian territories and Israel’s biggest trading partner — said more than a million people in and around Rafah had been ordered by Israel to flee the area to other zones the UN says cannot be considered safe.

“While the EU recognises Israel’s right to defend itself, Israel must do so in line with International Humanitarian Law and provide safety to civilians,” it said.

The law requires Israel to allow in humanitarian aid, the statement stressed.

The EU also condemned a Hamas attack on the Kerem Shalom border crossing which blocked humanitarian relief supplies.

“We call on all parties to redouble their efforts to achieve an immediate ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas,” it said.

Israel’s military operations in Gaza were launched in retaliation for Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israeli which killed more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, and saw around 250 hostages taken.

Israel’s military has conducted a relentless bombardment from the air and a ground offensive inside Gaza that has killed more than 35,000, mostly civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry.

Israel’s main allies, the United States and the EU, as well as the United Nations, have all warned Israel against a major operation in Rafah given that it would add to the civilian toll.

This picture taken on October 11, 2023 shows an aerial view of buildings destroyed by Israeli air strikes in the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in Gaza City.
| Photo Credit: AFP

The “overwhelming majority” of European Union (EU) countries supported continuing aid payments to the Palestinian Authority, according to the bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell.  

“…The overwhelming majority was against the idea or the proposal of suspending the payments to the Palestinian Authority,” Mr. Borrell said in Muscat, where he had been for a meeting with the Gulf Cooperation Council.  Mr. Borrell said that the payments, about €600 million per year, would be reviewed and not suspended. The EU is the top international funder of the Authority.

The clarification came late on Tuesday, a day after the EU declared that it was not suspending development aid to the Palestinian territories. The confusion had arisen after European Commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, had stated publicly that payments would “immediately” stop following Hamas’s bloody attack on Israel over the weekend. Over 1,000 people including children and the elderly were killed and over 150 were kidnapped by Hamas from Israeli sites.

In retaliation, Israel began bombing Gaza on a large scale and stopped food, water, medicine and fuel from entering the strip of land, home to 2.3 million Palestinians. Palestinian authorities reported that 1,055 have died since Saturday in the bombing.

Mr. Borrell said that Israel’s response to the attack, “like cutting water, cutting electricity and food to a mass of civilians” was against international law. Israel had a right to defend itself against the Hamas attack but its response had to be within the limits of international law, he said.

Several EU countries, including France, Spain, Ireland and Luxembourg had, on Monday, privately or publicly opposed the move to suspend payments to the Palestinian territories, while some others like Austria and Germany had temporarily suspended their bilateral assistance.

Foreign Ministers of EU countries on Tuesday met informally via video link and in Muscat and discussed how they could continue engaging the Palestinian Authority, as per Mr. Borrell, and they drew a clear distinction between Hamas, the Palestinian people, and the Palestinian Authority.

“We consider Hamas a terrorist organisation and what they have done shows – certainly – that they behave like this,” Mr. Borrell said in a televised press briefing, as he reiterated that the Palestinian Authority was a partner of the EU.

Mr. Borrell said that “collective punishment against all Palestinians will be unfair and unproductive” and “against our interests, and against the interests of the peace”.  Collective punishment is prohibited under international humanitarian law.  

Payments to the Palestinian territories was not going to be delayed, “because the Palestinian people are also suffering”, he said. The funds were going towards development activities, United Nations-supported activities and public services. Mr. Borrell said both EU countries individually and suggested the bloc might review the payments to ensure no payments were going to Hamas, which is an EU-designated terror group.