EU meeting to focus on preventing civilian deaths in Gaza

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) – EU foreign ministers will focus on finding ways to stop the escalation of violence in Israel and Palestine and to prevent further civilian deaths at an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday.

“The priority is to stop the violence and de-escalate to prevent further loss of lives and to protect civilians,” Peter Stano, the European Commission’s lead spokesman on foreign affairs, said Monday.

At their online reunion, the ministers will assess “how best the EU can contribute to defusing the tensions, stop the escalation and the ongoing violence,” Stano said.

He also underlined that the current crisis was the result of unresolved conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, therefore the ministers will also seek to “find sustainable solutions to the underlying causes of the current situation and to the root causes of all the conflict and the tension.”

“Both Israelis and Palestinians alike have the right to live in safety, security, freedom and democracy,” he said, repeating the gist of a statement issued by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell last week.

“The EU strongly condemns the indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israel by Hamas and other military groups from Gaza directly harming civilians,” he explained.

“While recognizing Israel's legitimate right to defend itself against any such attacks, the EU underlines the Israeli military operation must be proportionate and in line with international humanitarian law,” he added.

Asked about the Israeli bombing of the media center in Gaza, Stano said that “the destruction of media offices in Gaza is extremely worrying, and the safety and security of journalists and all their colleagues, the press people is essential.”

He also stressed that the EU considered “independent reporting, especially in situations of conflict and from areas of conflict” indispensable.

At least 200 Palestinians, including 59 children and 35 women, have been killed and 1,305 others injured in Israeli airstrikes, according to the latest figures.

Tensions have been running high since early May after an Israeli court ordered the evictions of Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem.

The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is seen as occupied territory under international law, thus making all Jewish settlements there illegal.

Like Turkey and much of the international community, the EU does not recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the territories it has occupied since 1967.

The EU has repeatedly called on Israel to end all settlement activity and to dismantle the already existing ones since 2001.

Over the past week, EU diplomacy led by Borrell has urged both sides to de-escalate tensions and to resume negotiations directed toward a two-state solution.

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