Israel should not be immune from criticism, stresses EU foreign policy chief

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – The EU foreign policy chief on Wednesday stressed that Israel should not be immune from criticism.

Addressing the European Parliament, Josep Borrell said: “We are seeing how the bombings in Gaza have created an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. But not a humanitarian catastrophe of natural origin, but one created by man by cutting off the population's access to basic goods. The United Nations itself describes it as carnage.”

It ought to be possible to recognize Israel's right to defend itself and simultaneously be outraged by what is happening to civilians in Gaza and the West Bank, he added.

Similarly, Borrell added, it should be possible to defend Palestinians’ right to have a state without being described as antisemitic.

“Policies of any government, including Israel, can be criticized,” he stressed.

Saying that the International Criminal Court is already in the process of investigating what has been happening in the West Bank and Gaza, Borrell added that while exercising its right to self-defense Israel must also fulfill its legal obligations.

He added that the EU is also greatly worried about attacks on Palestinian civilians by Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks in the Gaza Strip following an Oct. 7 Hamas attack, killing more than 14,128 Palestinians, including 5,840 children and 3,920 women, according to health authorities in the enclave.

Thousands of buildings, including hospitals, mosques, and churches, have also been damaged or destroyed in Israel’s air and ground attacks on the besieged enclave.

The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is around 1,200, according to official figures.​​​​​​​