Europe must push back against Israel's wars or will lose credibility on human rights, says Jordan

Israel's siege on Gaza has created worst humanitarian crisis since World War Two, says EU

Minister of Foreign Affairs EU and Co-operation of Spain Jose Manuel Albares, left, Jordan’s Foreign Affairs Minister Ayman Safadi, centre, and the EU's foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell attend the ninth Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean in Barcelona, Spain. EPAShow less

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European countries must push back against Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon and its persecution of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank or the bloc will lose credibility among its partners, Jordan’s Foreign Affairs Minister’s Ayman Safadi said on Monday.

“Israel is not only challenging international law but also European values,” Mr Safadi told foreign ministers from the Union for the Mediterranean’s 43 member states at a meeting in Barcelona during which participants raised alarm about further regional escalation.

Consequences of the EU ignoring repeated calls by Ireland and Spain to review its trade association agreement with Israel over human rights breaches could be “horrific”, warned Mr Safadi.

“Nobody will have any credibility going forward talking about international law, talking about human values, talking about human rights,” added Mr Safadi, who co-chaired the meeting with the EU's foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell.

Arab states have been “unequivocal” in their proposal for peace since an Arab peace plan put forward in 2002, but Israel has nothing to offer but destruction and war, Mr Safadi said.

“There is no alternative to the two state solution. The only alternative is more war, and the other alternative is apartheid where we see it manifested now in the occupied Palestinian territories,” Mr Safadi said. “Ethnic cleansing should not be allowed to happen. Genocide should not be allowed to happen.”

Palestinian civil defence members search for survivors and victims through the rubble following Israeli bombardment in the Zarqa neighbourhood in the north of Gaza city. AFP

Mr Borrell has backed the idea of a review of the EU's trade agreement with Israel but it remains elusive without the full backing of the EU's 27 member states. Despite growing concern of Israel's breaches of international human rights law, some countries such as Germany and the Czech Republic continue to push back against any action that may appear critical of Israel.

Speaking alongside Mr Safadi, Mr Borrell said that Israel's war on Gaza had created “the most acute humanitarian crisis since World War II” in the north of the enclave, where hundreds have been killed in the past weeks as Israel enforces a siege which it says will rid the area of the last Hamas militants.

The latest Israeli military operation has driven Gaza's death toll over the past year to more than 43,000. Now, the entire population in the north is at risk of dying, the under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and UN emergency relief co-ordinator, Joyce Msuya, said on Sunday.

“We have to do something more than just expressing concern. We should go out of this meeting with a stronger commitment to put pressure in order to stop this dramatic situation,” Mr Borrell said, without clarifying what could be done to stop Israel's war on Gaza. The EU is not an important player in ceasefire talks but is the most important donor to the Palestinian Authority.

Saudi Arabia's deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Waleed Elkhereiji echoed such concerns and highlighted international co-operation to implement a Palestinian state – an option rejected by the Israeli government. “The crisis we are witnessing in Palestine and Lebanon – it's unbearable. We cannot bear any more,” said Mr Elkhereiji.

In late September, Saudi Arabia announced an international initiative, which is supported by the EU, to seek a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli crisis, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Technical meetings are scheduled in the coming weeks in Riyad and Brussels. “It's the only solution that really guarantees the peace in the region,” said Mr Elkhereiji. “Otherwise, we will be falling into this spiral of violence that will never end.”