After his trip to the Middle East to meet with leaders and officials to discuss the crises in the region, Josep Borrell said that the conflict between Israel and Hamas was the “most urgent geopolitical issue we have to deal with.”
Borrell said, after discussions with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, that he counted the Kingdom as one of the EU’s main partners — alongside Jordan, Egypt and the Arab League — in trying to revive Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and bring the two-state solution back to the fore.
“With my Saudi interlocutors, we discussed the situation in Gaza,” he said.
“Our analyses converged on several critical points: The need for a rapid end to the fighting and the release of hostages, the need to avoid a forced displacement of Palestinians outside of the enclave and the need for a rapid withdrawal of Israeli forces at the end of the military operation,” he added.
Borrell added that he also discussed with Saudi officials the efforts being taken to halt Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping.
“We also discussed the risks of the conflict spreading to the wider region. This included the precarious situation in the Red Sea as a result of attacks by Houthi rebels on merchant ships,” he said.
“For our part, we are discussing options to help restore freedom of navigation, including the creation of a new European maritime operation alongside mission Atalanta, which is already operating off the coast of Somalia,” he added.
During his visit to Lebanon, Borrell spoke with caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati and other political figures about the need to avoid the country being drawn into a wider conflict with Israel.
“I conveyed to all my interlocutors our deep concern at the risk of seeing Lebanon drawn into a conflict with Israel, and our desire to help prevent such a disastrous development,” he said.
“All of them, including the representative of Hezbollah, told me they were equally eager to avoid being pulled into such a downward spiral.”
Borrell also spoke to UNRWA Commissioner General Philipe Lazzarini, reiterating the EU’s support for the humanitarian organization, its opposition to the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and its backing for more aid to be allowed into the enclave.
Lazzarini on Saturday said that the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza was “staining humanity,” as the conflict moved into its 100th day.
“The massive death, destruction, displacement, hunger, loss and grief of the last 100 days are staining our shared humanity,” he said in a statement as he visited the Gaza Strip.
“It’s been 100 days since the devastating war started, killing and displacing people in Gaza, following the horrific attacks that Hamas and other groups carried out against people in Israel. It’s been 100 days of ordeal and anxiety for hostages and their families.”
Borrell also said that following his trip to the Middle East, he was confident the EU and its regional partners can work together toward resolving the crises.
“Returning from this mission, my conviction has only deepened on the urgency for the EU to intensify its involvement in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. At the same time, I am also more convinced than ever of the feasibility of doing so in close cooperation with our regional partners,” he said.
The European Union faces growing animosity across the Muslim world and beyond due to accusations of pro-Israel bias and double standards over the war in Gaza, the bloc’s foreign policy chief has warned.
Josep Borrell said he feared such acrimony could undermine diplomatic support for Ukraine in the Global South and the EU’s ability to insist on human rights clauses in international agreements.
He said the EU had to show “more empathy” for the loss of Palestinian civilian lives in Israel’s war against Hamas, launched in response to the deadly Oct. 7 cross-border assault by the Palestinian militant group.
His comments came in interviews with Reuters during a five-day Middle East trip that took him to the rubble of Kibbutz Be’eri devastated by Hamas, the West Bank, a regional security conference in Bahrain and royal audiences in Qatar and Jordan.
On the trip, which ended on Monday evening, Borrell heard Arab leaders and Palestinian civil society activists complain that the 27-nation EU was not applying the same standards to Israel’s war in Gaza that it applies to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“All of them were really criticizing the posture of the European Union as one-sided,” Borrell said.
Waving his mobile phone, he said he had already received messages from some ministers signalling they would not support Ukraine next time there was a vote at the United Nations.
“If things continue a couple of weeks like this, the animosity against Europeans (will grow),” he added.
In response to the criticism, Borrell stressed human lives had the same value everywhere and that the EU had unanimously urged immediate humanitarian pauses to get aid to Palestinians in Gaza and quadrupled its humanitarian aid for the enclave.
But Arab leaders want an immediate end to Israel’s bombardment, which has killed at least 13,300 Palestinians, including at least 5,600 children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run government.
They have lambasted both the EU and the United States for not condemning Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza, in contrast to the West’s response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Israel has stressed that it is responding to the deadliest attack in its history, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 240 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
It says it is attacking civilian areas as that is where Hamas operates and it is trying to avoid innocent casualties.
EUROPE STRUGGLES
As High Representative for foreign policy, Borrell is charged with crafting common positions among EU members.
A neighbor of the Middle East and home to substantial Jewish and Muslim populations, the EU has a major stake in the latest crisis. Although not in the same league as the United States, it has some diplomatic weight in the region, not least as the biggest donor of aid to Palestinians.
But the bloc has struggled for a united stance beyond condemnation of the Hamas attack. It has largely limited itself to support for Israel’s right to defend itself within international law and calls for pauses in fighting.
Individual member countries, meanwhile, such as Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary have stressed strong support for Israel while others such as Ireland, Belgium and Spain have criticized Israel’s military action.
France has called for a humanitarian truce that would pave the way for a cease-fire.
Borrell, a veteran Spanish Socialist politician, last month declared that some of Israel’s actions contravened international law — to the annoyance of some EU member countries.
He avoided such direct public criticism on his trip. He also sought to show understanding for the pain felt by Israelis, recalling his own experience on a kibbutz in the 1960s.
But he said the EU also should do more to demonstrate it also cares about Palestinian lives and this could come through stronger calls for aid to get into Gaza and a renewed push for a Palestinian state under the so-called “two-state solution.”
“Since Oct. 7, there have been divergent views within the EU on how to react to the conflict in Gaza. This lack of consensus has weakened the EU in the region and prevented us from having influence on events, despite the fact that we are very directly impacted by this conflict and its consequences.
“The time has come for us to unite and shoulder our responsibility to push for an end to the hostilities in Gaza, and work with our partners to actively pursue the implementation of the two-state solution.”
