EU foreign policy chief voices hope for cease-fire in Gaza soon

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed hope on Thursday that a cease-fire can soon be reached between Israel and Hamas to stop the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

“There is a negotiation that is still ongoing, and we all hope that an agreement can be reached in the coming days,” he told Spanish public radio RNE.

On his discussions on Wednesday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a visit to Washington, Borrell said the US insists on the release of all Israeli hostages by Hamas for the cease-fire to be a lasting one.

As for ongoing efforts to send more humanitarian aid to Gaza, he said, in apparent reference to US efforts to bring aid by air and sea: “Before the war, 500 trucks entered a day, if there is no other option, better by sea than not at all. But let's be realistic, a traffic of 500 trucks cannot be replaced by dropping food by parachute.”

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas in which some 1,200 people were killed.

More than 31,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza and over 73,000 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.