Belgian premier reiterates call for cease-fire in Gaza

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Belgium's prime minister reiterated his call for a cease-fire in Gaza.

During a joint news conference Friday with Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib in Brussels, Alexander de Croo noted that stopping the killing of civilians should be a priority for everyone.

In response to a question on the idea of imposing sanctions on Israeli settlers involved in violence in the occupied West Bank, he recalled that Belgium has banned violent convicted settlers from entering the country.

"We now have also seen that (US Secretary of State Antony) Blinken has taken that position as well. We have reached out to our American colleagues to see how we can put that into practice and it's one of the topics I think that we should discuss," De Croo said.

He noted that respect for human lives and stopping the killing of innocent civilians should be a priority for everyone.

"That is a message of solidarity and of human dignity that (Spain's Prime Minister) Pedro Sanchez and myself brought in the region last week, and I think that as the European Union, there can be absolutely no doubt on that.

"I hope no one is angry if we ask to stop the killing of innocent civilians...You need a cease-fire to enable humanitarian access and to liberate the hostages," he added, referring to the situation in Gaza.

Saying that he has been "quite straightforward" on that, de Croo added: "I'm more human being than politician” and the killing of innocents has to stop.

Lahbib noted that Belgium is on the same page with Spain on Palestine, even if there are differences.

She added that they will discuss the settlers issue on Monday during the Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Brussels.

Israel resumed its military offensive on the Gaza Strip on Dec. 1 after the end of a week-long humanitarian pause with the Palestinian group Hamas.

At least 17,487 Palestinians have been killed and more than 46,480 others injured in relentless air and ground attacks on the enclave since Oct. 7 following a cross-border attack by Hamas.

The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stood at 1,200, according to official figures.