Latest news with #Borrell
Days of Palestine
5 days ago
- Politics
- Days of Palestine
Borrell: The European Union Allowed the Continuation of Genocide in Gaza
DaysofPal—Josep Borrell, the former EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, criticized on Wednesday the EU foreign ministers for their failure to take any action to hold the Israeli occupation accountable for its human rights violations in the Gaza Strip. Regarding the outcome of the ministers' meeting on Tuesday in Brussels, Borrell stated in a post on the platform X that this would allow Israel's genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza to continue 'relentlessly.' Borrell accused the European Union of failing to decide on Israel's violation of the human rights clause in the partnership agreement between them. He said: 'Europe has decided not to punish the Israeli occupation for the ongoing war crimes and to allow the genocide in Gaza to continue relentlessly.' Despite the EU's review of the partnership agreement with the Israeli occupation and its confirmation that Tel Aviv violates human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, no sanctions were imposed during the foreign ministers' meeting on Tuesday. Shortlink for this post:
Barnama
6 days ago
- Politics
- Barnama
Former EU Foreign Policy Chief Slams Bloc's Failure To Act On Israel's Human Rights Violations
BRUSSELS, July 16 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- The European Council missed its chance this week to do something to stop Israel's 'war crimes' and genocide in Gaza, according to a former EU foreign policy chief, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported. "@EUCouncil failed yesterday to take a decision on Israel's violation of the Association Agreement's Human Rights clause. But this is in itself a decision: not to punish Israel's continued war crimes and allow the genocide in Gaza to continue unabated," Josep Borrell wrote on X on Wednesday. The EU-Israel Association Agreement, which governs political and economic ties between the two parties, includes a binding clause requiring respect for human rights and democratic principles. Failure to comply with this clause can lead to sanctions or suspension of the agreement. bootstrap slideshow EU foreign ministers met on Monday and Tuesday to discuss growing concerns over Israel's attacks in Gaza, amid mounting civilian casualties and international calls for accountability. However, member states were unable to reach a consensus, resulting in no formal decision to suspend the agreement or impose sanctions. Borrell, who concluded his term as the EU's top diplomat last year, has been a vocal critic of Israel's attacks and has previously called for a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which gives Tel Aviv preferential trade terms. Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, Israel has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since late October 2023, killing over 58,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages and the spread of diseases. Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence 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.
Days of Palestine
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Days of Palestine
Borrell accuses US mercenaries of killing hundreds of starving Palestinians in Gaza
DaysofPal – Former European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has issued a scathing condemnation of the massacre of starving Palestinians in Gaza by 'American mercenaries,' accusing top European institutions of complicity through silence. 'In one month, 550 starving Palestinians were killed by American mercenaries while trying to get food at distribution points set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,' Borrell wrote in a Thursday post on Instagram. The foundation is backed by the United States and Israel. Calling the killings 'appalling,' Borrell tagged the official accounts of the Council of Europe and the European Commission, accusing them of turning a blind eye to ongoing atrocities in the besieged territory. 'You remain silent in the face of the crimes being committed in Gaza,' he charged. Since May 27, Tel Aviv and Washington have coordinated the delivery of limited aid into Gaza through the so-called 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,' a controversial mechanism that operates outside the supervision of the United Nations or international humanitarian agencies. Palestinians, many on the brink of starvation, are reportedly forced to risk death in order to obtain basic food supplies. Described by local officials as 'death traps,' these aid points have resulted in the deaths of 652 people and injured more than 4,537 others, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health's latest update on Thursday. Borrell, a Spanish diplomat and one of the EU's most senior former foreign affairs figures, has repeatedly broken with the official line of the European Commission under Ursula von der Leyen. Since the start of Israel's war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, Borrell has sought to forge a unified European stance condemning Israel's violations of international law and calling for an immediate ceasefire. International condemnation of the so-called 'death traps' continues to mount. Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, denounced the 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation' as a system 'designed to be a death trap,' calling it 'the most sadistic.' Amnesty International echoed these concerns, describing the mechanism as a deadly military aid system based on firsthand accounts from Gaza residents. U.S. contractors protecting aid distribution centers have used stun grenades and live ammunition against starving Palestinians attempting to reach food, according to an Associated Press investigation. Shortlink for this post:
Leaders
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Leaders
EU Must Take Strong Response against Israel: EX-Foreign Policy Chief
The EU's former Foreign Policy Chief, Josep Borrell, stated that the bloc must take a more assertive stance against Israel that has been violating the international law in its war on Gaza, according to Arab News. In an article for Foreign Affairs magazine, Borrell stressed that the EU has a 'duty' to intervene over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Need for Joint Plan Co-authored with Kalypso Nicolaidis, the article affirmed that the EU has to make its joint plan as Europe can no longer afford to linger at the margin. 'Not only is Europe's own security at stake, but more important, European history imposes a duty on Europeans to intervene in response to Israel's violations of international law,' the article said. Last week, EU's Foreign Policy Chief, Kaja Kallas, said that it was 'very clear' Israel had violated its human rights commitments during its war on Gaza. In May, Borrell accused Israel of 'carrying out the largest ethnic-cleansing operation since the end of the Second World War.' Authors' Suggestions Both authors said that Europe's conflicting response to Gaza's humanitarian crisis can be partly explained by the hesitation of some countries such as Germany, Hungary and Austria to take action against Israel for historical reasons. They wrote that EU member states could use Article 20 of the EU's treaty to 'allow for at least nine member states to come together to utilize certain foreign policy tools not related to defense.' 'Because such an action has never been taken before, those states would have to explore what (it) … would concretely allow them to do,' the Foreign Affairs article said. The authors also stated that the bloc should act as a powerful mediator in the Middle East. 'Some EU leaders cautiously backed the International Criminal Court's investigations, while others, such as Austria and Germany, have declined to implement its arrest warrants against Israeli officials,' they wrote. Overall, the EU, as a bloc, has been 'largely relegated to the sidelines, divided internally and overshadowed in ceasefire diplomacy by the US and regional actors such as Egypt and Qatar. Shouldn't the EU also have acted as a mediator?' Related Topics: Saudi Arabia Condemns Israeli Settlers' Violence against Palestinians Israel Kills Palestinian Aid Seekers as Rights Groups Warn GHF of Legal Consequences Israel Leading Middle East to 'Total Disaster': Turkish FM Short link : Post Views: 14
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israel committing genocide in Gaza, says EU's former top diplomat
The former EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has launched a blistering attack on Israel, accusing its government of committing genocide in Gaza and 'carrying out the largest ethnic-cleansing operation since the end of the second world war in order to create a splendid holiday destination'. Borrell, a former Spanish foreign minister who served as the EU's top diplomat from 2019 to 2024, and president of the European parliament from 2004 to 2007, also criticised the bloc's failure to use all the means at its disposal to influence Israel, saying expressions of regret were simply not enough. As he collected the Charles V European award in front of dignitaries including King Felipe in south-west Spain on Friday, Borrell said the horrors Israel had suffered in the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 could not justify the horrors it had subsequently inflicted on Gaza. 'We're facing the largest ethnic cleansing operation since the end of the second world war in order to create a splendid holiday destination once all the millions of tonnes of rubble have been cleared from Gaza and the Palestinians have died or gone away,' he said in a characteristically direct speech. The former diplomat accused Israel of violating all the rules of conflict and of using the starvation of Gaza's civilian population as a 'weapon of war'. 'Three times more explosive power has been dropped on Gaza than was used in the Hiroshima bomb,' he said. 'And for months now, nothing has been getting into Gaza. Nothing: no water, no food, no electricity, no fuel, no medical services. That's what [Benjamin] Netanyau's ministers have said and it's what they've done.' He added: 'We all know what's going on there, and we've all heard the objectives stated by Netanyau's ministers, which are clear declarations of genocidal intent. Seldom have I heard the leader of a state so clearly outline a plan that fits the legal definition of genocide.' Borrell went on to take Europe to task for shirking its moral and humanitarian responsibilities over Gaza. 'Europe has the capacity and the means not only to protest against what is going on but also to influence [Israel's] conduct,' he said. 'But it is not doing so. We supply half the bombs that are falling on Gaza. If we really believe that too many people are dying, then the natural response would be to supply fewer weapons and to use the lever of the association agreement to demand that international humanitarian law is respected, instead of just lamenting that that isn't happening.' The veteran socialist politician also used his speech to reflect on current geopolitical realities, which he described as unprecedented. The post-1945 world order, he said, was being demolished by Vladimir Putin, 'a tyrant whose military failure in Ukraine has made him more dangerous', and by Donald Trump who he described as 'the master of chaos, who has gone from being an ally to an adversary'. The question facing Europe, he added, was how well it would cope without the protections long afforded by its old ally across the Atlantic. 'In order to deal with this situation, we need to move from structural pacifism to strong rearmament, but we need to do that on a European scale if we want to avoid the waste that stirs the old national demons,' said Borrell. 'We need to shift away from a comfortable and atavistic Atlanticism, which has seen us delegate our security to the US, to building full European sovereignty, which will also mean giving Europe a fiscal and security dimension.' Related: How Trump's walkaway diplomacy enabled Israel's worst impulses He said that Europe was no longer the great driver, or chronicler, of world history. 'Today, history has become a product that's imported,' Borrell added. 'History has been written by the Russian soldiers who marched towards Kyiv in the early hours of a February morning, and by the Ukrainians who resisted. History is being written by the US voters who put Mr Trump back in the White House.' History, he went on, was now the story of the technological competition between the US and China. In what appeared to be a swipe at Trump, Borrell added: 'The faces of history today are those of Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. None of them is European. I know them – well, I know them a bit – and I can assure you that of those three, two are more intelligent than the third. The thing is the third one doesn't know it.'
