Josep Borrell, the High Representative for EU’s Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has returned from last week’s intensive mission to Israel, Palestine, Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan where he informed Israeli and Arab leaders about EU’s common position on the Israel-Hamas war and the need to plan for the day after the war.
During his visit, the war entered the seventh week with no end in sight. The Israeli ground offensive risks expanding to the south of the Gaza Strip to which most of the civilian population has been told to move for their security. Indirect talks via Egypt and Qatar to reach a deal on a partial release of the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas continued and are reportedly close to be finalized.
According to media reports, the deal will include around 50 children and their mothers in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners (among them minors and women) held in Israeli prisons and, more importantly for Hamas, a five-days long humanitarian pause in the war.
The Qatari deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, confirmed at a joint press conference last Saturday with the EU High Representative that his country is communicating with both sides. There have been ups-and downs in the hostage talks but he sounded optimistic and described the remaining sticking points as more practical and logistical.
On the northern front, the hostilities with Hezbollah in Lebanon intensified and can still escalate to a large-scale war. The situation in the West Bank is also worrying and can spiral out of control with daily Israeli raids against terrorist cells and armed settler violence against Palestinian villages. The Israeli government and army have failed to rein in extremist settlers.
Consistent EU message
To all his interlocutors, Borrell conveyed the same consistent message on behalf of all the 27 EU member states, whether or not they liked to hear it, with some adaptation to the audience. He was listened to but it was not immediately clear if all the leaders whom he met accepted his assessments of the situation and his calls for specific actions.
“I am trying to talk with my mind and my heart also, because I am coming from Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Ramallah, and one has to be able to say the same things everywhere,” he said in Bahrain at the plenary session of the Manama Dialogue “War, Diplomacy and De-escalation” on the third day of his journey in the region.
Josep Borrell in his meeting with the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, Credit: EU
“It would be easy here to get your applause, but if my words had to have meaning, they have to be the same when I am talking to the Israelis face to face, when I am talking to the families of the victims in the kibbutz, and when I am thinking [about] the families of people being killed in Gaza.”
“The trips to different destinations are feeding into each-other,” Peter Stano, EU lead spokesperson for foreign affairs, told The Brussels Times. “In Israel, we are talking to friends”. While Borrell has visited the other countries in the region several times, this was his first visit to Israel since he assumed office. In the past he volunteered at a kibbutz in Israel.
“One precondition in a partnership based on friendship is that we listen to each-other,“ Stano said. “I’m sure that the Israelis were listening to him because he was conveying the EU’s message on behalf of all member states.”
Borrell did not meet the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, but he met among others the President, Haim Herzog, the foreign minister Eli Cohen, and a minister without portfolio, Benny Gantz, the only opposition leader who agreed to join the government as a member of the small war cabinet which takes all important decisions during the war.
Solidarity with Israel
In his press remarks with Herzog and Cohen, Borrell expressed EU’s solidarity with Israel, demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the Israeli hostages and called for constraint and caution as regards the protection of the civilian Palestinian population. He did not hesitate to raise the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
With Cohen, he toured two of the villages in the south of Israel where Hamas massacred civilians on 7 October. “The best homage that we can give to the memory of the victims is to think about how to prevent these horrors to happen ever again. Hamas has to be defeated, but Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people. One thing is Hamas, another thing is the Palestinian people.”
Josep Borrell with families of the hostages, Credit: EU
“We know that war is horrible, and what we have seen here is horrible… One horror does not justify another. Innocent civilians, including thousands of children, have died in the past weeks. We also know that people are also forced to leave their houses and need assistance. They need food, water, fuel, and protection.”
“I am shocked about the human suffering of the Israeli people, but I am also concerned by the suffering of the people in Gaza,” he told the Israeli president. And I want to ask you to do your utmost in order to decrease the level of suffering of the civilians.”
The meeting with the prime-minister of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, Mohammad Shtayyeh, seemed more tense. The authority has not unequivocally condemned Hamas terror attack.
Solution which ends occupation
In his press remarks, Borrell told him that the EU is a friend of the Palestinian people and its biggest international donor but that Hamas’ terrorist attack had changed the paradigm of an already fragile situation and harmed the Palestinian people and cause. He stressed that only a political solution can end the untenable cycle of violence.
Outlining the three no’s and yes’s for the “day after”, he clarified that he indeed had in mind a return of the Palestinian Authority to the Gaza Strip after Hamas has been defeated - not only to govern the area with international and Arab funding, but also as the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in both the West Bank and Gaza when the peace process eventually will be resumed.
“You are already there. You never left Gaza. You have been providing public services to the population, with our support,” he said. The Palestinian prime minister replied in English that it was a pity that the High Representative had not also seen the destruction and suffering in the Gaza Strip where the south of the area had become a “concentration camp” in his words.
“What Israeli is doing in Gaza is killing in a mood of revenge,” he claimed. “The Palestinian people wanted nothing else than peace. We need an immediate cease fire to provide humanitarian assistance.”
But he also agreed with most of what Borrell proposed. “The Palestinians need to see a solution that ends the occupation so that they can live in peace and dignity. We need a plan with a time-frame. The United Nations can be a forum with the EU as a driving force… We associate ourselves with the yes’s and no’s.”
Reinvigorated Palestinian Authority
Whether Israel also supports the EU plan as it was presented by Borrell is too early to say. It is not clear whether Borrell discussed the need for a “reinvigorated” Palestinian Authority as US President Biden recently proposed.
The Israeli government says that it is focused on the war and has not found time to discuss the “day after”. Netanyahu, who depends on extremist parties to keep his government together, has rejected the Palestinian Authority as a partner. Gantz, the opposition leader in the war cabinet, also says that this is not the time for discussing the post-war political solution.
Asked about the outcome of the Borrell’s travels in the region, Peter Stano, the lead spokesperson, replied that the future governance arrangements were one of the main topics in the meetings. “We need to ensure that what happened on 7 October will never happen again and that the population in Gaza can live in dignity.”
“The assumption is that some Palestinian Authority, at some point of time and in some form, would be needed in Gaza because it can neither be re-occupied by Israel, nor continue to be ruled by Hamas. Obviously, someone needs to fill the void. The High Representative was told by the Palestinian Authority that it was ready to take over.”
Josep Borrell briefed the EU foreign ministers at an informal video-conference on Monday evening but nothing has yet been published from the conference. Informal notes that were seen by The Brussels Times list two main take-aways from his visit to the region.
- A sense of absolute urgency, particularly due to the dramatic humanitarian crisis in Gaza
- A shared desire to work towards a lasting peace in the region
He underlined that the humanitarian situation of the civilian population is dramatic. There is also an absolute urgency of releasing the hostages. Another concern is the fast-deteriorating situation in the West Bank and the risk of further escalation there – despite the efforts of the Palestinian authority to contain the situation.
“A fundamental political conclusion I draw from my engagement in the region – and I shared with EU Foreign Ministers tonight – is this,” he said. “I think that the best guarantee for Israel's security is the creation of a Palestinian state.”
Update: The Israeli government approved Tuesday night the hostage deal with Hamas. 50 hostages – women and children – will be released over a span of four days, during which there will be a pause in the fighting. The release of every ten additional abductees will result in an additional day of pause. The International Red Cross will be allowed to visit the remaining hostages hold by Hamas.
In exchange 150 Palestinian women and minors will be released from Israeli prison. Israel also agreed to allow additional fuel into Gaza as well as significant amounts of humanitarian aid.
M. Apelblat
The Brussels Times
