‘My biggest frustration’ – Borrell regrets failure to end Gaza war

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has reportedly said that the biggest regret of his term in office was his failure to influence the Israeli government to prevent death and destruction in Gaza.

Speaking at the European Council on Foreign Relations meeting in Madrid on Thursday, Borrell said the EU had been a “non-actor” in the crisis, Anadolu news agency reported.

“Nearly 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza, many of them women and children, and after how many months have the international community and the EU failed to achieve a ceasefire and start thinking about a political solution?” he lamented.

“This is my biggest frustration and the biggest example of how, when the EU is divided, we cannot even fulfil the role of geopolitical actor that we claim to be.”

He also reportedly said that the EU’s credibility was at risk because of its “division” and “irrelevance” to the situation, adding that “the heart of the EU could be under the ruins of Gaza.”

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Borrell stressed that “making it clear to the world that lives matter, whether in Ukraine or in Gaza, is one of the most important political objectives of the European Union. And when we say that cutting off water, electricity and food to the civilian population is a war crime, when we talk about Ukraine, the same words should be used when we talk about Gaza. But that is not the case.”

Borrell said the EU will be judged by other nations – from Southeast Asia to Latin America to Africa – on its “ability to defend its fundamental principles” and how it responds to this war.

“Crisis within the crisis”

Friday, the EU said He said he was “deeply concerned” by the evacuation orders given by the Israeli army to civilians in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

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In a joint statement released on Friday, Borrell and Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarcic said around 250,000 people “are affected” by the evacuation. orders which also threaten patients at the European Hospital, one of the few partially functioning hospitals in the south.

“The forced evacuations are creating a humanitarian crisis within the crisis,” EU officials said. “They are worsening an already dire humanitarian situation, with nearly 1.9 million Gazans displaced inside the Gaza Strip, as the UN’s Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, told the Security Council.”

“There is no infrastructure to accommodate people and humanitarian partners are struggling to meet the immense needs of the newly displaced,” the statement said.

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“Must be consistent with IHL”

On Monday, the Israeli military ordered residents of eastern Khan Younis to immediately leave the area, saying it had become a “dangerous combat zone.”

The Israeli army reportedly ordered residents to move to designated humanitarian areas in the western part of the city, specifically in the Al-Mawasi area.

EU officials said that for evacuations “not to constitute prohibited forced transfers, they must be consistent with international humanitarian law,” ensuring security during transit and adequate accommodation in areas of refuge for Palestinians called to evacuate.

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“Israel is also responsible for ensuring that displaced persons can return to their homes or areas of habitual residence once hostilities have ended,” the statement said.

The officials said a ceasefire is “all the more important now” and reiterated the “legally binding” orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of January 26 and May 24, in which the court ordered Israel to immediately cease its military offensive in Rafah.

In January, the ICJ called on Israel to avoid any action that could lead to genocide and to facilitate humanitarian access to Gaza.

Khan Yunis has been the scene of multiple attacks and raids since the current assault on the enclave began last October.

The death toll is rising

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against the Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war against Gaza since October 7.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 38,000 Palestinians have been killed and 87,445 injured. In addition, at least 11,000 people are missing, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes across the Gaza Strip.

Israel claims that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed in the operation to flood Al-Aqsa on October 7. Israeli media have published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed that day by “friendly fire.”

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Palestinian and international organizations say the majority of those killed and injured are women and children.

The Israeli war caused acute famine, mainly in northern Gaza, resulting in the deaths of many Palestinians, mainly children.

The Israeli aggression has also led to the forced displacement of nearly two million people from across the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of those displaced being forced to seek refuge in the densely populated southern city of Rafah, near the border with Egypt – in what has become the largest mass exodus from Palestine since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza, constantly seeking safety.

(PC, Anadolu)