Israel’s actions 'go beyond proportionate self-defense,' says EU’s foreign chief

LONDON

The EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, on Monday said, "Israel has the right to defend itself, but its current actions go beyond proportionate self-defense."

Foreign ministers of EU member states met in Luxembourg to discuss the Ukraine-Russia war, EU enlargement, the Western Balkans, and developments in Syria.

After the meeting, Kallas told reporters that humanitarian aid to Palestinians must be protected from political manipulation and directed strictly toward those in need.

"When it comes to the overall situation, then it's very grave, and, of course, we really want the mediators to come back to the negotiation table and assume the ceasefire and release all hostages," she emphasized.

"The humanitarian aid we are giving to Gaza and Palestinians should not be politicized. What it means is that it has to reach the people that are in need," she added.

Kallas also welcomed regional efforts to reconstruct Gaza but highlighted key shortcomings:

"We welcome the Arab plan for the reconstruction of Gaza, but at the same time, it lacks three important elements, which are funding, security, and the governance of Gaza. But we are willing to work with our Arab partners and international partners to develop these topics."

Turning to Syria, the foreign policy chief reflected on ongoing sanctions and the path toward rebuilding the war-torn nation.

"Then we had a very intense discussion on Syria and whether to go on with the easing of the sanctions. And there it is clear that in order to reconstruct Syria, they need access to services, but it's also clear that we haven't seen many steps from the new leadership, and this future of Syria is still very fragile, but still hopeful."

"So we agreed that we will evaluate the process so far because we have done some lifting of the sanctions, but we will also work to propose the next steps, of course, keeping in mind the conditionalities, the red lines that we will put, or the conditions that we really want to see. So we will work on the technical specifications there and then come back if we are ready to agree and move forward with this step."

Kallas also revealed new sanctions on Iran, aimed at addressing human rights abuses, while cautiously welcoming recent developments in nuclear negotiations:

"Then on, Iran, we adopted sanctions for state-sponsored hostage taking, so nine individuals were sanctioned, and when it comes to the Iran nuclear talks in Oman, these are a step in the right direction because we don't want to see a nuclear weapon developed by Iran."

Since March 2, Israel has closed Gaza’s crossings, blocking essential supplies from entering the enclave.

The Israeli army also renewed a deadly assault on Gaza on March 18, shattering the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January.

Nearly 51,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.