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EU’s Borrell, Jordan FM lament ‘catastrophe’ in Gaza, ‘deterioration’ in West Bank
The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has spoken to Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi about the “ongoing catastrophe” in Gaza as well as the deteriorating situation for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
In a post on social media, Borrell said he and the minister were gravely concerned that “full humanitarian access is still being denied” to the people of Gaza amid an Israeli border blockade of the war-torn Palestinian territory.
Despite a binding – though unenforced – order by the International Court of Justice, Borrell said fighting has not ended in Gaza, Israeli captives have not been released, and a ceasefire proposal announced by US President Joe Biden has not been implemented.
Safadi said he spoke to Borrell about the urgency of the EU taking “real action to stop Israel’s war crime against the Palestinian people”.
“A radical, racist Israel Govt shouldn’t be given impunity. It must face sanctions & be held to account,” he wrote on social media.
Spoke to EU’s @JosepBorrellF on urgency of the EU acting to defend its laws, values & interests & take real action to stop Israel’s war crime against the Palestinian people. A radical, racist Israel Govt shouldn’t be given impunity. It must face sanctions & be held accountable https://t.co/jwDOArm0hr
— Ayman Safadi (@AymanHsafadi) June 20, 2024
Smotrich using ‘fog of war’ to annex occupied West Bank
The Israeli army has transferred responsibility for dozens of bylaws at the Civil Administration – the Israeli body governing in the occupied West Bank – from the military to officials led by the far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich at the Defense Ministry, The Guardian has reported.
The order, posted on the military’s website on May 29, is significant because it removes “any pretence by Israel that its presence in the occupied West Bank is temporary,” Nour Odeh reported from Ramallah.
Smotrich, as the de facto ruler of the territory, has installed people loyal to him ideologically to ensure that any expansion of illegal Israeli settlements would not face any hindrance and that any Palestinian activity in about 60 percent of the West Bank would be confronted and treated as illegal, she said.
“This is not Smotrich going rogue; what he’s really doing is using the fog of war, slipping that order in a few days ago using all of what’s happening in Gaza in order to not attract attention,” Odeh said.
“But really, very honestly implementing a coalition agreement that has pledged to take over the West Bank, annex it legally, administratively, and politically to Israel in defiance of international law.”
