Ahead of foreign affairs ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday, where discussions will include the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the wider region, Agnès Bertrand-Sanz, Oxfam humanitarian expert, said:
“The discussions happening today behind closed doors have an impact on real people, people who are facing the unimaginable. Yet, Europe’s response is often lethargic – recently exemplified by their lack of response to Israel’s banning of UNRWA.
“The EU and EU countries must double down on demands for a ceasefire, suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and make sure humanitarian aid does not get blocked or destroyed. Finally, EU countries cannot keep arming this destruction in Gaza and Lebanon – they must stop arms sales to Israel.
“History is watching, and Europe has a choice: does it want to be complicit in these violations of international humanitarian law and this campaign of ethnic cleansing in North Gaza? Does it want to have blood on its hands?”