STRASBOURG ― EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas has condemned Israel’s blocking of humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza and its unfolding all-out military offensive in the Palestinian territory.
“On the 7th October, 2023, Hamas carried out the worst terrorist attack in Israel’s history,” she said during a debate with lawmakers in the European Parliament on Wednesday. “Israel has the right to self-defense, but what we see in practice from Israel goes beyond self-defense.”
She added that “blocking food and medicine for Palestinians trapped in Gaza does not protect Israel” and that “bypassing U.N. deliveries does not help the people.”“It undermines decades of humanitarian principles,” she said.
The EU is currently reviewing its Association Agreement with Israel, a deal governing trade and political relations, after a request from the majority of member countries. Kallas is due to report on the process of the review on Monday. Under the agreement, Israel must protect human rights, a commitment that a majority of EU countries called into question.
“Every day this war continues, humanity slips further away. Enough is enough,” Kallas said, accusing Israel of a “disproportionate use of force” by attacking civilian infrastructure. She also lambasted the “unacceptable” rising death toll in Gaza.
Some EU lawmakers reprimanded Kallas for not using the term “genocide” to describe what Israel has done in Gaza. “You’re refusing deliberately to use this term, Ms. Kallas,” The Left co-chair Manon Aubry said. “We should act, protect, sanction, and get away from your complicity because you are complicit.”
In reply to the comments from lawmakers, some of whom demanded the top diplomat initiate the process to slap sanctions on Israel, Kallas argued she couldn’t move as quickly in language or in action as she would like because she is the voice of 27 governments who need to agree on a common position.
“I know this will not go through, and then it will just show that we don’t have a common position,” she said. “And all of those who have spoken here, I recommend you, especially from those countries whose governments are representing a different view, put the pressure on the governments to really change the position.”
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