War in Gaza

EU majority in favor of “immediate humanitarian pause”

Column of smoke over Rafah, where Israel's army now wants to invade.(Bild: APA/AFP/SAID KHATIB)

The majority of EU countries are calling for an "immediate humanitarian pause" in the Gaza Strip. 26 of the 27 EU countries spoke out in favor of such a pause, which should lead to a sustainable ceasefire, the unconditional release of hostages and the provision of humanitarian aid.

It is not known which country has not joined this call. However, Hungary recently blocked a similar declaration. But the government in Budapest also opposed a resolution at the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. As several diplomats confirmed to the German Press Agency, Hungary prevented an agreement in principle on sanctions against radical Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

Schallenberg: "We must not be blind in one eye"
Austria's Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg clearly expressed the government's position in Vienna before the vote: "I am very much in favor of doing this. We must not be blind in one eye, especially in the Middle East. I have always said that the acts of violence committed by the settlers in the West Bank, as well as violations of the holy sites, are unacceptable."

Austria's Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg voted in favor of sanctions against radical Israeli settlers.(Bild: APA/BMEIA/MICHAEL GRUBER)

According to EU diplomats, Germany would also have agreed. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock spoke of "ever-increasing tensions" with regard to the West Bank. The actions of Israeli settlers should not be left without comment. 

Borrell regrets Hungary's resistance
"Don't forget what is happening in the West Bank," said EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell. The violence by Israeli settlers is continuing. He had therefore proposed sanctions. Borrell once again regretted that the declaration issued on Saturday against a new military offensive in the south of the Gaza Strip could only be made in his name and not in the name of the 27 EU states due to Hungary's resistance. The planned sanctions include EU entry bans and the freezing of assets held in the EU. 

The background to the tense situation in the West Bank is that Israel has been expanding controversial settlements there since the conquest of the territory in the 1967 Six-Day War. The number of settlers in the area, which lies between the Israeli heartland and Jordan, has now risen to around half a million. Including East Jerusalem, there are as many as 700,000 settlers living in the midst of around three million Palestinians. The United Nations has classified these settlements as a major obstacle to a peace settlement because they hardly allow any contiguous territory for the Palestinians in a possible two-state solution.