Ahmet Gencturk
22 July 2024•Update: 23 July 2024
ATHENS
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday that the gap between the law and what is happening on the ground has never been so wide after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an opinion last week on Israel's occupation and attacks on Palestinian territories.
Never before has the gap between the law and what happens on the ground been so wide, and all this under the watchful eye of a powerless international community,” Borrell said at a press conference following a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
“So today there is no cease-fire. There is no plan for Gaza. There is no revival of the global settlement. On the contrary, there is a continuation of military operations in Gaza, and it's becoming banal to say” that tens of thousands of people have been killed by bombs, and hostages have yet to be released, he said.
Stressing that the EU should take more tangible and resolute steps to support the revival of a peace process between Palestine and Israel based on a two-state solution, Borrell said “it is clear that the advice of the International Court of Justice is that the occupation of the West Bank is illegal and it has to end, and Israel has to withdraw from these territories.”
Revealing that the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Olof Skoog, was also present at the meeting, he said "After nearly 10 months and 290 days, the war in Gaza continues to rage, and we are witnessing new forced evacuations of exhausted civilians. There are more than 17,000 orphans in Gaza."
Borrell also noted that the provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza had significantly dropped after April.
"Virtually everyone in Gaza is dependent on us to survive, and 96% of Gaza’s population is acutely food insecure. You can say whatever you want, but it is a horror, unbearable, and we must do everything we can to stop it for the sake of our own humanity," he said.
The ICJ’s opinion issued Friday in response to a 2022 request by the UN General Assembly said Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank is "unlawful" and should be brought to an end "as rapidly as possible."
It said Israel should cease new settlement activities and evacuate all settlers from the occupied Palestinian territory.
Controversy over Hungary
Slamming Hungary for accusing the EU of being "pro-war" and reiterating that Russia bears the responsibility for the ongoing war in Ukraine, Borrell said "we want peace. No one wants peace more than the Ukrainians themselves. But for a fair, lasting peace, it needs to preserve Ukraine’s freedom and independence and ensure accountability for the many war crimes that have been happening since the war started."
"Any so-called ‘peace mission’ that ignores these basic fundamentals is, at the end of the day, only benefiting (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and will not bring peace," he added.
Borrell also stressed that 25 EU member states are against Hungary's position and policies regarding Russia and Ukraine.
"I think it was much more appropriate to show this feeling and to call for the next (informal) Foreign and Defense Council meeting in Brussels, when we come back from holidays," he added.
