Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo expressed his "deep concern" over the many civilian deaths in Gaza in a phone call to the Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
The two leaders spoke over the phone on Thursday evening after around 20 Belgian citizens were repatriated from the under-siege Gaza Strip.
"While welcoming the evacuation of Belgian citizens from Gaza, I expressed deep concern about the many civilian casualties in Gaza,” Prime Minister De Croo said on social media. "A rapid scaling up of humanitarian access and respect for international law by all sides is truly essential."
On Friday, the Associated Press reported that the death toll was "without precedent in decades of Israeli-Palestinian violence."
Since Hamas' terror attack killed around 1,400 Israelis on 7 October, at least 9,061 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 32,000 people have been wounded, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Thursday.
Prime Minister Alexander De Croo pictured during a consultation with relatives of the hostages in Gaza, at the Prime Minister's office, in Brussels, Wednesday 25 October 2023. Credit: Belga / James Arthur Gekiere
The Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas, has not provided aggregated data on fighters and civilians, but the number of children reported to have been killed is being understood as an indicator of the scale, with 3,700 children killed by airstrikes. Israel has accused Hamas of using civilians as "human shields" by operating from densely populated areas and in tunnels under buildings with civilians.
There have also been 73 UN workers and 34 journalists killed by Israeli airstrikes, and there are still around 230 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the strip.
Belgian evacuations
With the Israeli Army reporting on Thursday its encirclement of Gaza City, an initial group of around twenty Belgians and their dependants were evacuated from the area, Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said late on Thursday. The group is being assisted by the diplomatic and consular teams on the ground in Egypt.
"We are mobilised for our compatriots and are continuing our efforts to ensure that the Belgians can leave Gaza as soon as possible," said the minister in a press release.
Foreign Affairs had obtained permission for 85 Belgians and 90 of their dependants to cross the Rafah border crossing, a figure that may still change.
The diplomatic and consular services assist them when they reach Egypt via Rafah, the only terminal open since Wednesday to allow foreign passport holders to leave the Palestinian territory under Israeli bombardment.
