“What is happening just on the other side of this wall is not a crisis created by nature. It is a human-made crisis. A human-made tragedy” – Josep Borrell.
The European Union Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell stressed on Monday while on a visit to the Egyptian side of Rafah Crossing that the future of Gaza concerns the entirety of the Middle East, the Anadolu news agency reported.
“Certainly we have to avoid … Gaza becoming a new Mogadishu, a Mogadishu in the Mediterranean, or a new Haiti, aligned without law and order, abandoned to the gangs, to the violence of people,” Borell reportedly told reporters.
Within this framework, the EU chief of diplomacy warned that the security and stability of the whole region, including that of Israel is at stake, emphasizing that support should be granted to the “Palestinian administration” to restore law and order in Gaza, per Anadolu.
How many more massacres before we say enough? pic.twitter.com/PNmc6Kct4h
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) September 10, 2024
Speaking to reporters Borell admitted the limited ability of the EU to enforce a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
“We can put our political and diplomatic pressure on Israeli authorities, but our capacity is limited. We do what we can. The US also is doing what it can, but something goes wrong here,” the EU foreign policy chief said.
“I don’t understand why the ceasefire has still not been reached. Someone is procrastinating,” he added.
Borrell emphasized the urgent need for a truce “for further steps to be able to be taken on Gaza, including deploying staff by the EU and other concerned parties.”
“What is happening just on the other side of this wall is not a crisis created by nature. It is not a flood. It is not an earthquake. It is not one of those crises that nature creates from time to time, and we cannot prevent or avoid. It is a human-made crisis. A human-made tragedy,” the EU foreign policy chief pointed out.
Borell brushed Israeli allegations of ‘defense against the enemy’.
“What is happening in Gaza today is another horror. It is not just a matter of defending, it is, I think, a massive violation of human rights,” he added.
He vowed the EU’s continuous support of the Palestinian people but admitted that there needs to be a permanent solution.
“We have to look for a political solution. Because to feed someone with a dinner tonight, in order to be killed tomorrow, is not exactly the solution,” Borell stressed.
‘Brutal Act of Genocide’ – Scores Killed, Injured in Israeli Strikes on Mawasi Tent Camp
On the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the besieged Gaza Strip, the EU chief of diplomacy emphasized the crucial necessity to open the borders for the flow of humanitarian aid in order for the situation to begin to improve in the enclave.
He pointed out that only a small portion of Palestinians in Gaza is getting humanitarian assistance due to Israel’s closure of the crossings.
“Today, 1,400 trucks (are) waiting to enter. And, in a good day, maybe 50 will come in. In (the Muslim holy month of) Ramadan time, they were 600 per day. This is a drop in the ocean of needs on the other side (of the Crossing),” Borrell emphasized.
Borell recounted on X his visit to the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing and mentioned that “along the way endless queues of trucks with goods trying to enter Gaza”. He also reiterated the urgency that “the flow of aid restarts at the needed scale & crossing points reopen for civilians and medical evacuations.”
The EU diplomat also highlighted the frustration felt by aid workers on the obstruction of aid entering Gaza.
“I heard the frustration of Red Crescent volunteers managing warehouses full of humanitarian aid blocked by Israeli authorities,” he stressed on X.
Ongoing Genocide
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 41,020 Palestinians have been killed, and 94,925 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(PC, Anadolu)
