Gaza war has expanded to Jerusalem, West Bank, Lebanon: EU foreign policy chief

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) - EU foreign policy chief on Friday warned that the war in Gaza has expanded to Jerusalem and the West Bank as well as Lebanon.

“Since the summer, violence has spread in the West Bank in Jerusalem and in the border between Lebanon and Israel,” said Josep Borrell during a news conference in Brussels following the EU defense ministers’ informal meeting.

In reference to the situation in Gaza, Borrell maintained Israeli operations aiming to eliminate Hamas came with a heavy humanitarian cost.

“These operations have undoubtedly considerably weakened Hamas, but the extent of consequences and extent of destruction and the human losses still to be known,” he said.

He went on by saying: “War has triggered an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, which in turn has led to an extremely serious health crisis.”

Borrell remarked: “The conflict is being extended to the West Bank and Jerusalem, because they are at the heart of the conflict, because they combine both the territory and the symbolism, fight for the territory, but also for the symbols."

On Wednesday, the Israeli army launched the largest military offensive since 2002 in the cities of Tulkarm and Jenin, as well as in the Al Fara refugee camp near Tubas, killing 20 Palestinians, according to Palestinian figures.

Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank amid a brutal Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 40,600 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7 last year.

At least 670 Palestinians have since been killed, nearly 5,400 others injured and over 10,300 arrested in the occupied territory, according to Palestinian figures.

Stressing that the international community generally failed to stop the war in Gaza, Borrell revealed that a high-level meeting during UN General Assembly session in September can be held with participation of Arab countries, the US and any party which wants to participate, including Israel.

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