Israel-Hamas war: EU leaders call for pause in Gaza fighting

European Union leaders at a summit on Thursday called for "humanitarian corridors and pauses" in Gaza, to allow the safe and unhindered access of aid deliveries.

The European Council released a statement following hours of negotiations at a summit of the bloc in Brussels. 

"The European Council expresses its gravest concern for the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and calls for continued, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access and aid to reach those in need through all necessary measures including humanitarian corridors and pauses for humanitarian needs," the statement read. 

"The European Union will work closely with partners in the region to protect civilians, provide assistance and facilitate access to food, water, medical care, fuel and shelter, ensuring that such assistance is not abused by terrorist organisations," added the declaration, issued at the summit in Brussels.

This follows appeals for an immediate ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid to reach Gaza, causing much debate in the bloc for days. Countries supporting appeals for ceasefire at a leaders' summit in Brussels included Spain, Ireland and Belgium. Others like Germany and Hungary emphasized Israel's right to self-defense.

Israeli troops and tanks briefly raided northern Gaza overnight into Thursday and engaged with Hamas fighters, targeting anti-tank weapons, in order to "prepare the battlefield" before an expected ground operation, the military said on Thursday.

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the limited incursion was "part of our preparations for the next phases of the war."

The Israeli army said the move was its biggest incursion into northern Gaza since the current war began. Armored vehicles crossed the fortified border and blew up buildings, a military video showed.

"Tanks and infantry struck numerous terrorist cells, infrastructure and anti-tank-missile launch posts," the Israeli military said.

Benny Gantz, a retired general and member of Israel's war Cabinet, said a ground offensive would be only "one stage in a long-term process that includes security, political and social aspects that will take years."

"The campaign will soon ramp up with greater force," Gantz said. No Israelis were wounded, and there was no immediate confirmation of any Palestinian casualties as a result of the overnight raid.

Hamas sent a delegation to Moscow on Thursday to engage in talks for the release of international hostages, including Russian citizens, Russian news agencies reported, citing the Foreign Ministry in Moscow.

Senior Hamas member Abu Marzouk was among those attending the talks, Russian news service TASS reported.

"Contacts were held with him in continuation of the Russian line on the immediate release of foreign hostages in the Gaza Strip. Issues related to ensuring the evacuation of Russian and other foreign citizens from the territory of the Palestinian enclave were also discussed," TASS reported.

Russia has repeatedly blamed the current crisis between Israel and Hamas on the failure of US diplomacy and has called for a ceasefire, along with the resumption of talks aimed at finding a peace settlement.

Israel criticized the trip, calling on Russia to expel a visiting Hamas delegation, and adding that the invitation to Moscow was "deplorable."

"Hamas is a terrorist organization worse than 'IS' The hands of senior Hamas figures are covered with the blood of more than 1,400 Israelis who were slaughtered, murdered, executed and burned, and they are responsible for the abduction of more than 220 Israelis, including babies, children, women and the elderly," the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour addressed an emergency session of the UN General Assembly on Thursday, and called on the assembly to recognize the "epic suffering" of Palestinians in Gaza.

"Is this the war that some of you are defending?" he said.

After the Hamas terror attacks on southern Israel, during which gunmen roamed towns and villages and killed over 1,400 people, Israel responded what it called a "siege" on Gaza, combined with continual airstrikes in preparation for a ground assault. 

Mansour said an estimated 7,000 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli strikes following the October 7 attacks. The figure of 7,000 echoes the figure supplied by Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry, which has been disputed by Israel and cannot be independently verified.

Israel's UN envoy, Gilad Erdan, addressed the assembly in response, and said Israel was not at war with the Palestinians, but the "genocidal jihadist Hamas terror organization."

"Hamas do not care about the Palestinian people; they do not care about peace," Edan said.

A draft resolution calling for a cease-fire submitted by Jordan will be voted on at the end of the meeting. However, doubts remain about whether the text will be adopted.

Israel's Ministry of Defence has said that a total of about 250,000 people voluntarily left their residences as part of an official evacuation program to escape fighting near Gaza and rocket attacks near the northern border with Lebanon. 

Authorities are working to more widely evacuate areas along the Gaza Strip and Lebanon border until the end of the year, the spokesperson confirmed. However, government approval for this is still pending.

Israel has a total population of just under 10 million.

Western countries are on the international humanitarian violations taking place in Gaza, Stefan Talmon, a professor of international law, told DW on Thursday.

Talmon suggested that he agreed with Jordan's King Abdullah II, who accused the West of "double standards" on the situation in Gaza, compared with their stance on Ukraine.

"I think he does [have a point] because, of course, the West is conspicuously silent on any violations of international humanitarian law currently going on in Gaza," Talmon said.

Talmon said Israel's fight against Hamas did not allow the country to block humanitarian aid to Gaza's more than 2 million people under international humanitarian law.

He said Israel was exercising "collective punishment," which is prohibited under international humanitarian law.

Talmon agreed with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in saying the rules of international humanitarian laws have been violated, first by the Hamas attacks on October 7 and then by Israel in its response.

Israel is not a signatory of the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the International Criminal Court. However, Talmon reminded that the Palestinian National Authority in the West Bank is a signatory.

Talmon said this gave the ICC "jurisdiction over the Palestinian occupied territories, and [it] could investigate any violations of international humanitarian law, both by Israel and by Hamas fighters."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke at an EU summit in Brussels on behalf of Israel and its actions in Gaza. "Israel is a democratic state with very humanitarian principles guiding it," Scholz.

"Therefore, you can be sure that the Israeli army, in its actions, will also follow the rules that derive from international law. I have no doubt about that," he added.

The German chancellor said it was very important to do everything possible so that hostages can be released, humanitarian aid can get into Gaza, and dual nationals and employees of international organizations could leave the territory.

Former general and member of Israel's war cabinet, Benny Gantz, said a planned ground offensive on Gaza would be only one part of a much longer process that could continue for years.

"The maneuver is only one stage in a long-term process that includes security, political and social aspects that will last for years," Gantz said in a speech delivered on Thursday.

"The campaign will soon ramp up with greater force," he added.

Gantz, who has been a long-time political rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that Israel was "facing a challenge it has not experienced since its establishment."

He said the emergency government's establishment of a war cabinet was "the right step."

Israel has vowed to destroy the Islamist militant group Hamas following its large-scale terror attacks on October 7.

Hiba Tibi, country director of the humanitarian organization CARE, told DW the situation in Gaza was growing increasingly difficult, with the supply of food and water limited.

"Only today, they had to go for bread queues that are now taking six hours on average to find a loaf of bread. ... For instance, my colleague had to leave at 4 a.m. just to reserve a spot in the queue," Tibi said.

The UN refugee agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, warned on Wednesday that humanitarian operations may grind to a halt due to a lack of fuel.

Tibi said she honestly didn't know what the situation would be if the UN, "as they announced, are going to stop providing services — if the hospitals are going to stop their services."

Gaza had been under a blockade up until the weekend, when convoys of humanitarian aid were allowed to enter the territory from the Rafah crossing with Egypt. However, only 62 trucks had entered Gaza as of Wednesday, according to the UN. Before the conflict, some 500 trucks were allowed into Gaza a day.

Israel's military has also banned deliveries of fuel, arguing that the Islamist Hamas militant group which governs the territory, is hoarding fuel supplies within Gaza.

The CARE regional director said that the organization had been aiding those impacted by war for decades but was now battling to operate.

"CARE has been providing the humanitarian services for war victims since 1945, since the Second World War. However, now, in 2023, we are unable to fulfill our mandate."

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) said it attacked "over 250 targets" belonging to the Hamas Islamist militant group in the Gaza strip over the past day.

In a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, the IAF said its fighter aircraft struck what it called "terrorist infrastructure," tunnel shafts and rocket launchers, which it said was situated in "a civilian environment."

Israel has been bombarding the Palestinian territory, with the military saying it is targeting Hamas.

The action taken against Hamas has been in response to the large-scale terror attack the group launched on southern Israel on October 7.

The following satellite images from US space tech firm Maxar Technologies show neighborhoods in Gaza before and after the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

 

 

European Union leaders are gathering in Brussels for a two-day summit with conflicts, including the Israel-Hamas war, high on the agenda.

EU states have been struggling to find a common position on the conflict. Some members, such as Ireland and Spain, have issued pro-Palestinian statements while others, including Germany and Austria, have come out in staunch support of Israel.

EU members, however, have strongly condemned the terror attacks by Hamas in Israel on October 7, in which militants killed at least 1,400 people and took more than 200 hostages.

But there is less agreement on calling for a cessation of Israel's retaliatory airstrikes on Gaza.

EU countries were wrangling over whether to call for a "humanitarian pause.

The French news agency AFP reported a draft statement for the summit calls "for continued, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access and aid to reach those in need through all necessary measures including a humanitarian pause."

AFP reports Germany has suggested "humanitarian windows" or "pauses" in the plural instead of definitive halt to avoid limiting Israel's ability to defend itself.

The Israel Defense Forces said it made an incursion into the Gaza Strip overnight to attack Hamas positions.

"In preparation for the next stages of combat, the IDF operated in northern Gaza," it said on X, formerly Twitter. 

"IDF tanks and infantry struck numerous terrorist cells, infrastructure and anti-tank missile launch posts," the IDF added. 

The Reuters news agency cited Israel's Army Radio as describing the raid as the largest in the current war against Hamas, now in its third week.

According to the IDF, the soldiers have left the territory and were back in Israel.

Late Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that along with the heavy bombing campaign of Hamas-controlled Gaza, "we are preparing for a ground offensive".

Newly elected US House Speaker Mike Johnson used his first action in the role to call up a resolution supporting Israel.

"The first bill I'm going to bring to this floor in a little while will be in support of our dear friend Israel, and we are overdue in getting that done," Johnson said as he accepted the speakership.

The motion also called on Islamist group Hamas to immediately cease attacks and release every hostage. Hamas is considered to be a terrorist organization by the US, the EU, Germany and others.

The House passed the motion with an overwhelming majority.

Johnson is a religious conservative from Louisiana who has the backing of former President Donald Trump.

US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he has "no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using" for the death toll in the Gaza Strip.

The Hamas-run health ministry in the territory claimed that more than 6,500 people have been killed in Israeli attacks. Hamas is considered a terror group by the United States, the European Union, Germany and others.

At a White House press conference, Biden was asked whether the claimed death toll in the Gaza Strip meant that Israel's army was ignoring appeals to minimize civilian deaths.

"What they say to me is I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed," Biden responded.

"I'm sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war."

"[The] Israelis should be incredibly careful to be sure that they're focusing on going after the folks that [are] propagating this war against Israel. And it's against their interest when that doesn't happen."

Biden did not explain why he is skeptical of the figures. Palestinians reject the notion that the death toll is inflated.