The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell suggested on Monday that the United States should deliver fewer weapons to Israel if they believe that there are too many deaths on the Palestinian side.
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“If you think too many people are being killed, maybe you should provide fewer guns in order to prevent so many people from being killed. “Isn’t that logical?” he told the press, referring to statements by American President Joe Biden deeming the Israeli response to Gaza “excessive”.
“Everyone goes to Tel Aviv begging, please don’t do this, protect civilians, don’t kill so many people,” Mr. Borrell said after a meeting of the development ministers of the European Union (EU). But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “doesn’t listen to anyone,” he added.
“They are going to evacuate” the Palestinians. “Or ? On the moon?” he asked again, in reference to the offensive announced by Israel in the south of the Gaza Strip where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are massed.
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On Monday, the Court of Appeal in The Hague ordered the Netherlands to stop the export of F-35 parts to Israel, ruling that there was “a clear risk that serious violations of the humanitarian law of war are committed in the Gaza Strip” with Israeli F-35 fighter jets.
“I have no idea what a safe place is in the Gaza Strip,” said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN Palestinian refugee aid agency (UNWRA), during of this press conference.
He expressed feelings of “panic” over the Israeli army’s planned operation in southern Gaza.
“We are talking about 5% of the population who were killed, injured or missing, or more than 100,000 people out of a population of two million, and in just four months,” he said.
The Israeli offensive left 28,340 dead in the Gaza Strip, the vast majority civilians, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health, which on Monday counted 164 dead in 24 hours.
Asked about the future prospects of this agency that Israel wants to see dismantled after accusations of complicity with Hamas, Mr. Lazzarini affirmed that the end of UNWRA operations “would deprive half a million children of education. in Gaza”, and would affect more than five million Palestinian refugees in Israel, Lebanon and Jordan.
The war was sparked on October 7 by an unprecedented attack by Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza into southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to a count by the AFP produced from official Israeli data.