Current:Home > MarketsThe EU struggles to unify around a Gaza cease-fire call but work on peace moves continues -FundPrime
The EU struggles to unify around a Gaza cease-fire call but work on peace moves continues
View
Date:2025-04-15 19:03:44
BRUSSELS (AP) — As the civilian death toll in Gaza continues to mount, a number of European Union leaders sought on Friday to use growing concern about Israel’s military offensive against Hamas to convince their partners to rally around a united call for a ceasefire.
“The killing of innocent civilians really needs to stop,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said. He said the EU must unite “if we want to play a serious role in that conflict, and I think we have to because we will be wearing the consequences if things go further in a bad direction.”
More than 18,700 Palestinians have now been killed, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths, since Hamas rampaged through southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Hamas killed about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and took about 240 hostages.
The EU is the world’s biggest provider of aid to the Palestinians and has been trying to use its diplomatic leverage as a 27-nation bloc to encourage peace moves. But despite being Israel’s largest trading partner, the EU has mostly been ignored by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Beyond this, the members have long-been divided over Israel and the Palestinians. Austria and Germany are among Israel’s most vocal supporters. Their leaders went to Israel to show solidarity after the assault. Spain and Ireland often focus on the plight of the Palestinian people.
Hamas, for its part, is on the EU’s list of terrorist groups.
Since its attack, the bloc has struggled to strike a balance between condemning the Hamas attacks, supporting Israel’s right to defend itself and ensuring that the rights of civilians on both sides are protected under international law.
At the United Nations on Tuesday, an increasing number of EU members voted for a resolution calling for a ceasefire – a total of 17 – and fewer abstained. Still, Austria and the Czech Republic voted against.
“We now have a clear majority of countries here in the European Union calling for a cease fire. I think that’s the view of the people of Europe as well,” Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said. “There’s no possible justification or excuse for what’s happening there.”
But Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas was less categorical. “In (the) U.N. we were not united as a European Union. But we will hear the worries and like we always do try to work out the compromises,” she told reporters at the EU’s summit in Brussels.
The EU is more united around what should happen once the fighting stops for good.
Mindful that resentment and conflict in the wider Middle East and Gulf regions have been fueled by decades of Israeli-Palestinian tensions, the bloc is exploring ways to realize a long-held EU ideal — two states living peacefully side by side.
The EU has for years tried to promote the idea of an Israeli and a Palestinian state with borders set mostly as they were in 1967 — before Israel captured and occupied the West Bank and Gaza — with some land swaps agreed between them. Both would have Jerusalem as their shared capital.
Top EU officials concede that their international peace efforts so far haven’t been effective. This is the fifth war between Israel and Hamas, and the number of deaths in Gaza far exceeds the combined tally of those killed in the previous four, which is estimated to be around 4,000.
An internal discussion paper on the way ahead – a text seen by The Associated Press – insists that the EU must develop a “comprehensive approach.” Officials believe a “whole of Palestine” approach that has Gaza as part of a future Palestinian state remains the most viable option.
The capability of the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank but not Gaza, is “of key importance for the viability and legitimacy” of a two-state solution. It noted that Arab states will only get involved if their efforts lead to “a genuine peace process that results in the two-state solution.”
EU efforts, the document said, should focus on support for an international conference, only “not as a singular event but as part of a peace process plan.” Israeli and Palestinian foreign ministers should be separately invited to EU meetings “to maintain the dialogue with both.”
But in the region, talk of a two-state solution conjures up images of years of diplomatic failures, and for many in mourning it’s simply too early to talk about peace.
veryGood! (36)
Related
- Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
- Kate Hudson Reflects on Conversations With Late Matthew Perry About Trials and Tribulations of Love
- Judge temporarily bars government from cutting razor wire along the Texas border
- See Kendall Jenner's Blonde Transformation Into Marilyn Monroe for Halloween 2023
- Working Well: When holidays present rude customers, taking breaks and the high road preserve peace
- Pasadena police investigate report of missing items from Colorado locker room following UCLA game
- Biden touting creation of 7 hydrogen hubs as part of U.S. efforts to slow climate change
- Police investigating death of US ice hockey player from skate blade cut in English game
- Louvre will undergo expansion and restoration project, Macron says
- A UN envoy says the Israel-Hamas war is spilling into Syria, which already has growing instability
Ranking
- Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
- US regulators sue SolarWinds and its security chief for alleged cyber neglect ahead of Russian hack
- Family sues Colorado funeral home where 189 decaying bodies were found over alleged fake ashes
- Judge temporarily blocks federal officials from removing razor wire set up by Texas to deter border crossings
- Why Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Being Given a Laptop in Jail Amid Witness Intimidation Fears
- Police investigating death of US ice hockey player from skate blade cut in English game
- Are banks, post offices open on Halloween? What to know about stores, Spirit Halloween hours
- Montenegro, an EU hopeful, to vote on a new government backed by anti-Western and pro-Russian groups
Recommendation
Biden administration makes final diplomatic push for stability across a turbulent Mideast
Federal agents tackle Jan. 6 defendant Vitali GossJankowski during physical altercation at court hearing
Jeff Wilson, Washington state senator arrested in Hong Kong for having gun in carry-on, gets charge dismissed
Canadian workers reach deal to end strike that shut down Great Lakes shipping artery
Jorge Ramos reveals his final day with 'Noticiero Univision': 'It's been quite a ride'
Judge wants to know why men tied to Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot were moved to federal prisons
Halloween weekend shootings across US leave at least 11 dead, scores injured
Colorado continues freefall in NCAA Re-Rank 1-133 after another loss