"War in Gaza: we cannot continue with business as usual"

After a year of unheeded pleas by the Israeli authorities regarding respect for international law in the Gaza war, we cannot continue with business as usual. This is why I have proposed to EU Member States to ban imports from illegal settlements and to suspend the political dialogue with Israel. We will discuss these measures at the Foreign Affairs Council next week.

As we run out of words to describe the ever-worsening situation in Gaza, people there are running out of everything. In many parts of the Gaza Strip, there is almost nothing that could sustain organised human life. Northern Gaza, once home to more than one million people, has been emptied completely after several weeks of relentless shelling, destroying the last remaining health centres, shelters and schools.

Ethnic cleansing in Northern Gaza

With no aid coming for weeks, the remaining 400 thousand residents were eventually forced to leave at gunpoint. The few images that come out show an apocalyptic wasteland. It is not by chance that the words “ethnic cleansing" are increasingly used to describe what is going on in North Gaza.

What we see of the tragedy of Gaza is however only the tip of the iceberg since the strip has been sealed. There are hardly any journalists or international observers entering Gaza since more than one year. It is the longest information blackout ever imposed by a democratic state. In addition, there are reasons to believe that journalists have been targeted by Israeli Defence Forces. To this day more than 130 have been killed. [...]

After a few weeks, senior Israeli officials started speaking of a ‘new Nakba’, the displacement in 1948 of 700 thousand Palestinians from what became Israel. Many of these refugees fled to Gaza, where they make up two-thirds of the population. In January, twelve government ministers participated in a mass rally for the resettlement of Gaza. And last week, we heard that Northern Gaza had been emptied of civilians, who would not be allowed to return. Some of these illegal and immoral ideas are obviously starting to become reality. [...]

The list of pleas that fell on deaf ears in Israel is too long to recount

To heed international humanitarian law, to comply with binding orders of the International Court of Justice, to ensure humanitarian access, to agree to President Biden’s ceasefire proposal, to allow international journalists and UN-mandated investigators to enter Gaza… Looking back, the list of pleas that fell on deaf ears in Israel is now too long to recount.

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