Published October 11,2023
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EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday reconfirmed that the EU will proceed offering humanitarian help to Palestine.
Before the weekly reunion of EU Commissioners, prime officers of the EU govt physique commemorated the victims of the assaults in Israel with a minute of silence, within the presence of Israel’s EU Ambassador Haim Regev.
“Our humanitarian support to the Palestinian people is not in question,” von der Leyen asserted.
She defined that the European Commission will “carefully review” the bloc’s monetary help for Palestine as “it has never and will never go to Hamas or any terrorist entity.”
Her remarks got here after the EU Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi introduced earlier this week the suspension of EU funds for Palestine, an announcement that the EU govt physique needed to later rebuff.
She referred to as the assaults “a tragedy for Israel, for the Jewish people, and also for Europe,” reassuring Israel of the EU’s backing.
“This has nothing to do with the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people,” she stated.
“The horror that Hamas has unleashed will bring more suffering upon innocent Palestinians,” von der Leyen asserted.
She added that EU diplomacy ought to work in opposition to the destabilizing results of the occasions and their possible “major impact on the region,” and help “the ongoing rapprochement between Israel and its Arab neighbors.”
The bloc will even “monitor closely Iran’s posture, given its longstanding support to Hamas,” she additional stated.
Von der Leyen made no touch upon the deteriorating humanitarian state of affairs in Gaza after Israel introduced a complete blockade of the area and carried out a whole lot of lethal airstrikes since Saturday.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned on Wednesday that the Gaza Strip will face a humanitarian disaster if secure corridors stay closed for assist.
In a dramatic escalation of Mideast tensions, Israeli forces have launched a sustained and forceful navy marketing campaign in opposition to the Gaza Strip, a response to a navy offensive by the Palestinian group Hamas in Israeli territories.
The battle started on Saturday when Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in opposition to Israel, a multi-pronged shock assault together with a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel through land, sea, and air, which Hamas stated was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and Israeli settlers’ rising violence in opposition to Palestinians.
In response to Hamas’ actions, the Israeli navy launched Operation Swords of Iron in opposition to Hamas targets inside the Gaza Strip. Israel’s response has prolonged into slicing water and electrical energy provides to Gaza, additional worsening the dwelling situations in an space that has reeled underneath a crippling siege since 2007.
At least 1,200 Israelis and 900 Palestinians have been killed for the reason that battle started.
Source: www.anews.com.tr