EU foreign ministers will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Israel and the region, the office of the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, announced on Monday.
The ministers will consider the implications and consequences of events since Saturday, "following these terrible attacks by Hamas against Israel," and the EU’s position, Peter Stano, spokesman for the High Representative, said.
Mr. Borrell and several European ministers, including Belgium’s Hadja Lahbib, were already in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, on Monday for a long-planned meeting between the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council. On Tuesday, the EU ministers absent from Muscat will join the informal European meeting by videoconference.
The spokesman emphasised the intense diplomatic activity underway at the national, European and international level, particularly with Arab partners who could influence the situation on the ground.
The EU and its 27 Member States have already made it very clear that, in response to the “indiscriminate and appalling attacks” by Hamas, Israel has the right to defend its territory and its population, in accordance with international rules, Stano said. This cannot be questioned, he added.
Asked about the Israeli response to the attack, he noted that the scale of the attack by Hamas was unprecedented, and that it had targeted mainly civilians.
He said, however, that it was also important, on the other hand, to ensure that the Palestinian population does not suffer as a result, in breach of the rules of engagement. That is why the EU-27 are saying that this must be done in accordance with international rules, he pointed out.
The Commission is also examining how its assistance programmes in the region, both to the Palestinian population and to the Palestinian authorities, could be affected.
It has recalled the existence of strict controls to ensure that European funding does not end up, directly or indirectly, in the hands of Hamas or any other terrorist organisation.
