By Ahmet Gencturk
ATHENS (AA) - Ireland vowed to make a “strong case for a humanitarian cease-fire” in Gaza at a two-day summit of European Union leaders in Brussels, media reports said Thursday.
It is “an opportunity for us to get humanitarian aid in and get EU citizens out, that we fully stand over Israel's right to defend itself, condemn the terrorists who attacked their civilians, but how the response is conducted is important in terms of future security for the whole region, including here in the European Union,” Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said after arriving at the summit, according to the public broadcaster RTE.
He said that he would encourage other leaders not to fall into the Hamas "trap" of allowing the crisis to escalate into a regional conflict, implying that Russia was hoping for such an outcome to distract international focus away from Ukraine.
"They want to see this conflict spread to the wider region. And there are other people, quite frankly, in other parts of the world, who would like to see that, too, because it would take focus off Ukraine,” he said.
The conflict in Gaza began when the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood -- a multi-pronged surprise attack on Oct. 7 that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel by land, sea and air.
Hamas said the incursion was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and growing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.
The Israeli military then launched a relentless bombardment of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.
Over 8,400 people have been killed in the conflict, including at least 7,028 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis.
Gaza's 2.3 million residents have been running out of food, water, medicine, and fuel, and aid convoys allowed into Gaza have carried only a fraction of what is needed.