The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said on Monday that the EU was “alarmed” by Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
“We are alarmed by the violence committed by extremist Jewish settlers in the West Bank. We are also alarmed that the Israeli government has approved the construction of 1,700 additional housing units in East Jerusalem in order to expand (illegal Jewish) settlements. “, declared Josep Borell during a press conference organized after the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.
Borrell also highlighted the increasing number of civilian casualties in Gaza due to continued Israeli attacks, saying: “The destruction suffered by Gaza is even more severe than that suffered by German cities during World War II.”
He added that Israeli attacks on Gaza have caused a considerable number of civilian casualties and that the displacement of some 1.5 million people amounts to an ever-worsening humanitarian catastrophe, as UN agencies have repeatedly highlighted. united.
He further recalled that only a political solution based on the two-state principle can guarantee peace to Israel.
“There is no military solution to this long-standing dispute,” he added.
Borrell also reiterated the European Union’s opposition to any plan to expel the population of the Gaza Strip or re-occupy it by Israel.
He said support for the Palestinian Authority should continue on the condition that funds not go to institutions “advocating anti-Semitism.”
Israel is waging a relentless air and ground offensive against the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas on October 7. Military offensive resumed on December 1, after the end of a week-long humanitarian pause with the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas.
According to Gaza health authorities, nearly 18,205 Palestinians have been killed and more than 49,645 injured in relentless air and ground attacks on the enclave since October 7.
The toll of Israeli losses during the Hamas attack would amount to 1,200 deaths, according to the figures put forward by the Israeli authorities.
This article is originally published on aa.com.tr
