LAST UPDATE | 26 Oct 2023
EU LEADERS HAVE reached an agreement calling for “humanitarian corridors and pauses” in the Israel-Hamas conflict, but falling short of demanding a “ceasefire”.
After five hours of talks at the European Council meeting in Brussels, the statement from the 27 member states says:
“The European Council expresses its gravest concern for the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and calls for continued, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access and aid to reach those in need through all necessary measures including humanitarian corridors and pauses for humanitarian needs.”
The statement goes on to reaffirm its statement made on 15 October, condemning in the strongest possible terms the attacks carried out by Hamas on 7 October.
However, the use of the word “ceasefire” was not included in the statement due to some EU states contending that it weakened the EU’s support for Israel’s right to defend itself.
“The European Council strongly emphasises Israel’s right to defend itself in line with international law. It reiterates its call on Hamas to immediately release all hostages without any precondition,” says the statement that was agreed tonight.
It reiterates the importance of ensuring the protection of all civilians “at all times in line with international humanitarian law”.
“It deplores the loss of civilian life,” it adds.
The statement adds that the European Council “expresses its gravest concerns for the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and calls for continued, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access and aid to reach those in need through necessary measures including corridors and paused for humanitarian needs”.
In addition, the council says it will work with partners to ensure aid such as water, fuel, food, shelter and medical card is made available to citizens and is “not abused by terrorist organisations”.
It concludes by stating that the European Union stands ready to contribute to “reviving a political process on the basis of a two-state solution” and “supports the holding of an international peace conference soon”.
This was a late addition to the text — understood to be at Spain’s insistence.
Speaking at press conference after the meeting, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said council members agreed that Israel is a democracy that has been attacked by a terrorist organisation and it has a right to defend itself.
She said there was a “strong call” for Hamas to release all hostages, stating the terrorist acts of Hamas was “bringing harm to the Palestinian citizens and has caused a humanitarian crisis in Gaza”.
The commission president said it “all started with a horrible attack on the people of Israel”, adding that it is “important that we acknowledge the pain and suffering of the israeli people and families that lost relatives”.
If Europe wants to speak to Israel and use its influence, “it is so important you first listen if you want to be listened”, she said,
In what could be seen as a nod to her visit to Israel, one which drew a lot of criticism, von der Leyen said it was “good that so many leaders travelled to Israel to listen”, while also conveying the need to respond within international law.
“Of course leaders emphasised that siege must stop,” she said, adding it was of the utmost important that the Palestinian people and hostages have access to humanitarian aid.
“There is no contradiction between showing solidarity to Israel and of course acting on the need of humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza,” von der Leyen told reporters.
In terms of aid to the people of Palestine, she said 56 tonnes of aid had already been delivered and two more flights are scheduled for Friday, with more planned in the following days.
She said it was important to work with partners, particularly Egypt, stating that it needs to be a “beacon of stability in that region”.
The council also discussed how the crisis could impact on European security, stating that concerns were raised the spread of terrorist propaganda and the need for online platforms to remove such content.
Concerns were also highlighted about the rise in anti-semitic acts, she said, stating the EU leaders need to be “very vigilant of hate crimes”.
She added the commission’s proposal to add hate speech and hate crime to the list of EU crimes was agreed.
Charles Michel, President of the European Council, said at the press conference that the importance of the commitment to a two-state solution was emphasised as EU policy. He also raised the point of combating anti semitic speech, hate speech and islamophobia.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said earlier today that he would be pushing for a humanitarian ceasefire to be called for.
“I believe it will be possible for us to come out of here tomorrow with a unified stance as a European Union,” he said in Brussels this afternoon.
“In Ireland we have a lot of sympathy for the Palestinian people, often driven by our own historical experience. But to get a consensus among 27 people, we’re going to have to compromise, we’re going to have to understand each other,” he said.
However, Varadar said that he was not hung up on the language that would be agreed along as it called for the end of violence.
“Even if we don’t all agree on emphasis and detail. I think it is possible to come to a position and that will then guide everything else thereafter,” said the Taoiseach.
The 27-nation bloc has long been split between more pro-Palestinian members such as Ireland and Spain, and staunch backers of Israel including Germany and Austria.
There has been strong condemnation of the Hamas attack that Israel says killed at least 1,400 people and resulted in more than 200 being taken hostage.
But there has been less consensus on urging any halt to Israel’s retaliatory bombardment of Gaza, which the Hamas-run health ministry says has killed over 7,000 people.
A question was posed to Varadkar this afternoon as to why in the past, the EU has always supported the UN’s calls, with one reporter questioning why this is so difficult now.
Varadkar had said he hoped the EU would follow the UN’s calls, stating that while Europe “might not use the exact same language as the UN uses”.
“I hope we will as a EU call for humanitarian ceasefire and pause. I am not obsessed with the language used, what we want is the killing and violence to stop, so humanitarian aid can get into Gaza where innocent people are suffering,” he said.
Varadkar said he would tell the council meeting today how important it is the EU does not “play into the hands of Hamas”. He said Hamas wants to see an escalation and for it to spread to the wider regions.
“There are other people in other parts of the world that want to see that too, as it would take focus of Ukraine, so it is very important that we don’t fall into that trap,” he said.
Varadkar said today it is also important to respect where other countries are coming from on the issue. Earlier, the Taoiseach told The Journal that he wouldn’t be berating other nations with Ireland’s view, stating that this meeting today is about building consensus.
Mentioning countries such as Germany and Austria, he said the historical past of the 30s and 40s and the treatment of the Jewish people has to taken into account in terms of their perspective, with the Taoiseach stating that Ireland’s own history colours our perspective on such matters.
Germany, wary of urging a more definitive halt that could tie Israel’s hands, have been arguing for the call to be humanitarian “windows” or “pauses” in the plural in the EU statement.
“We feel that civilians must be protected always and everywhere. We will have a good decision,” European Council chief Charles Michel said just ahead of the summit’s start.
Diplomats from some EU nations warn that delays over finding the right words as the death toll mounts are hitting the bloc’s global standing and leaving it flailing in the face of developments.
“We can feel that some in the world are using the circumstances to try to rally a part of the international community to attack the European Union,” Michel said.
Political Editor Christina Finn reporting from Brussels. With reporting by Agence France-Presse (AFP)
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