EU foreign policy chief urges all parties in Mideast to de-escalate military tensions

By Nur Asena Erturk

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Thursday urged all parties in the Middle East to de-escalate military tensions.

In a joint news conference with Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib in Beirut, Borrell regretted that this country was negatively affected by the conflicts in the region, including Syria and Palestine.

Lebanese people want and seek stability, peace, and development, and the EU stands with them, Borrell stressed.

“We need to de-escalate military tensions, and I use this opportunity to urge all sides to pursue this path,” the EU official said, and noted that “war is never inevitable, it depends on the will to avoid it.”

The international community must continue “pushing for a comprehensive peace in the region,” which means, according to Borrell, “that the security of Israel depends on the capacity of the Palestinian people to have a future based on their own state and freedom.”

The EU representative emphasized that he has no “magic wand” to solve all the problems, but “political will to use the diplomatic tools and financial capacities in order to influence the actors to stop the war, to avoid escalation, and to look for a peace agreement starting with a cease-fire in Gaza.”

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since a Hamas attack last October despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 41,100 people, mostly women and children, have since been killed and over 95,100 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel faces accusations of genocide for its actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice.