Borrell criticizes Israel for ignoring the international community and fears "many deaths" in Rafá

Warns that "sooner or later" international justice will rule on the Israeli offensive in Gaza

BRUSELAS, 7 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The High Representative of Foreign Policy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, criticized this Tuesday the land invasion of Rafá initiated by the Israeli Army despite warnings from the international community, ensuring that "sooner or later" international Justice will rule on it. the offensive against the Gaza Strip.

In statements before the meeting of European Cooperation officials in Brussels, the head of European diplomacy called it "sad news" that an agreement for a ceasefire in Gaza had not been reached, regretting that Israel had continued with its plans. to invade Rafah. "Hamas accepted, Israel rejected it and the ground offensive has begun despite requests from the international community, from the United States, from the European Union, to Benjamin Netanyahu not to attack Rafah," he noted.

In this sense, he anticipated that the Israeli offensive will leave "many civilian deaths", given that "there are no safe areas in Gaza." Thus, he has warned that the situation is "very worrying" and that continuing the war in the border enclave with Egypt "will cause an even greater humanitarian crisis" than the one already existing in the Strip.

This Tuesday, Israel announced the seizure of the Palestinian part of the Rafah crossing, which connects the Gaza Strip with Egypt and which serves as one of the main entry points for humanitarian aid to the enclave, after weeks threatening a possible offensive. military attack against the city, which is home to nearly 1.4 million Palestinians.

The High Representative did not want to anticipate what the EU's response to the Rafá invasion will be, assuring that the political dimension of this crisis will be examined by the foreign ministers of the 27 at their next meeting at the end of May.

Regarding whether he will put the request of Spain and Ireland back on the table to review the association agreement with Israel, he explained that it is an issue on which he continues to work although he regretted that the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has not yet responded to the letter from both Member States, since taking measures on trade matters requires the opinion of the European Executive.

For all these reasons, Borrell has warned that the Israeli offensive in Gaza in response to the Hamas attack on October 7 will end up at the table of international Justice. "Certainly what happens in Gaza sooner or later the International Criminal Court will have to say something," he noted.

At this point, the EU Foreign Minister has condemned Israel's attacks and intimidation against the International Criminal Court, ensuring that they are "totally rejectable." "When the court issued the arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin, we applauded. So we either respected the court or not. This has to be the case on all occasions and in all cases," he reflected, after the Israeli authorities warned of that they will not accept the authority of the International Criminal Court and that the United States opposes an investigation against Tel Aviv for its actions within the framework of the offensive against the Gaza Strip.

Regarding resuming funding for the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Borrell has indicated that he hopes that the EU will allocate the promised funds that were pending independent reports on the possible links of agency workers. with Hamas, once these analyzes have rejected the accusations made by Israel.

"I see no reason not to resume full payments to UNRWA again. The idea of ​​cutting funds has no basis, the report is clear so the Member States have resumed payments," he noted, pointing out that the EU as a whole must take the step.