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Former European ambassadors slam EU’s Gaza response

Former European ambassadors slam EU’s Gaza response
Palestinians flee their homes in Jabalia's Saftawy neighborhood on Tuesday. Ex-European diplomats have condemned the EU for not taking a tougher stance against Israel. (AFP)
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Updated 26 August 2025

Former European ambassadors slam EU’s Gaza response

Former European ambassadors slam EU’s Gaza response
  • Open letter signed by more than 200 ex-diplomats says Brussels has failed to put pressure on Israel over conflict
  • Calls for member states to act alone in halting arms exports and introducing sanctions 

LONDON: More than 200 former European ambassadors and senior diplomats have angrily rebuked the EU for failing to take any “substantive measures” to pressure Israel to end the war in Gaza.

Western nations have faced growing pressure to take stronger action against Israel as the daily slaughter of Palestinian civilians continues.

The EU in particular has faced strong criticism for struggling to take a tougher stance to end the war.

Last month, the bloc failed to agree on a range of sanctions against Israel despite a review finding the country had breached its human rights obligations under an association agreement with the EU.

European foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the sanction measures proposed on July 15 had been paused after Israel agreed to allow more aid to flow into Gaza.

In an published Tuesday, 209 former EU ambassadors and senior staff, along with ex ambassadors from European states, condemned out the bloc’s failure to act.

“We express our profound disappointment that, in response to the deteriorating situation in Gaza, no substantive measures have been taken by the EU to pressure Israel to end its brutal war, to resume vital humanitarian assistance by mainstream providers, and to dismantle its illegal occupation of both Gaza and the West Bank,” the letter said.

It called on the EU “to demonstrate real leadership, worthy of the overwhelming majority of European citizens whose profound disquiet over the current deplorable situation in Palestine is palpable, and consistent with core European values.”

The former diplomats called on the EU to halt arms exports to Israel, stop funding- joint projects, withdraw from joint research projects, and stop trade in goods and services with illegal settlements.

The letter also called for a ban on Israeli military ships and aircraft from European ports and airspace and a ban on Israeli data linked to Gaza and the Occupied West Bank from being used in European data centers.

The letter called on European states to take action individually or along with like-minded countries given the EU’s “failure to take an active stand."  

Some of the signatories had sent a letter last month expressing deep concern about the EU’s response to the war in Gaza, which many international bodies and observers say has descended into genocide.

The letter published Tuesday said that since then, “more than 2,600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, many of them women and children.

“The Israeli government has begun implementing plans to empty Gaza City and its environs of one million Palestinians, by forcing them into concentration areas in the south, in preparation for possible large-scale deportations to third countries,” the letter said.

“Our reiterated and urgent call for action reflects our deep concern at the unjustified retribution and appalling violations of humanitarian and human rights law being committed by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people on a daily basis.”

Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, former EU ambassador to the Palestinian Territories and one of the diplomats coordinating the response, said there was such dismay within European institutions that people are saying “enough is enough.”

He told The Guardian: “We can’t stay paralyzed if the 27 (member states) can’t take action, that betrays our values. So we have proposed nine actions that can be taken at the state level or by groups of states.”

He added: “European governments are losing credibility not just in the global south but with our own citizens, in every member state.”


US envoy Witkoff felt ‘betrayed’ by Israeli attack on Hamas in Qatar

Updated 14 sec ago

US envoy Witkoff felt ‘betrayed’ by Israeli attack on Hamas in Qatar

US envoy Witkoff felt ‘betrayed’ by Israeli attack on Hamas in Qatar
“I think both Jared and I felt, I just feel we felt a little bit betrayed,” Witkoff told the CBS news
“It had a metastasizing effect because the Qataris were critical to the negotiation, as were the Egyptians and the Turks“

WASHINGTON: US envoy Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s chief negotiator on the Middle East, has said that he felt “betrayed” when Israel launched a strike targeting Hamas negotiators in Qatar last month.
In a CBS interview alongside Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who worked with Witkoff on the brokering of a Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, the presidential envoy said he learned of the September 9 attack in Doha the morning after it happened.
Qatar is a key US ally and acted as mediator in the push to end the Gaza war.
“I think both Jared and I felt, I just feel we felt a little bit betrayed,” Witkoff told the CBS news program “60 Minutes” in excerpts released Friday. The full interview is scheduled to air on Sunday.
At the time, the strike halted the indirect negotiating process to end the fighting in the devastated Gaza Strip, triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
“It had a metastasizing effect because the Qataris were critical to the negotiation, as were the Egyptians and the Turks,” Witkoff said.
“We had lost the confidence of the Qataris. And so Hamas went underground, and it was very, very difficult to get to them.”
Trump wrote on social media at the time that the decision to conduct the Doha air raid came from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel and Hamas ultimately accepted a 20-point peace plan presented by Trump that called for hostage and prisoner releases and a ceasefire after two years of deadly conflict.
Under pressure from Trump during a White House visit this month, Netanyahu called Qatar’s prime minister to apologize for the Doha strike.

Egypt expected to lead proposed post-war Gaza stabilization force

Egypt expected to lead proposed post-war Gaza stabilization force
Updated 2 min 38 sec ago

Egypt expected to lead proposed post-war Gaza stabilization force

Egypt expected to lead proposed post-war Gaza stabilization force
  • Washington is said to favor a UN mandate for the mission, without establishing it as a full-fledged UN peacekeeping operation
  • Turkiye, Indonesia, and Azerbaijan are among the countries being lined up as key troop contributors alongside Egypt

LONDON: Egypt is expected to take the lead in an international stabilization force being developed to oversee security inside Gaza under a proposed UN Security Council mandate backed by the US and European partners, according to diplomatic sources.

The proposed force, which would have broad powers similar to those granted to international troops in Haiti to combat armed groups, is being shaped as part of a European and US-backed UN motion, .

Washington is said to favor a UN mandate for the mission, without establishing it as a full-fledged UN peacekeeping operation.

Turkiye, Indonesia, and Azerbaijan are among the countries being lined up as key troop contributors alongside Egypt.

While no European or British troops are expected to participate, the UK has deployed advisers to a coordination unit operated by the US inside Israel, The Guardian also reported.

The unit is tasked with helping implement the second phase of a 20-point plan drafted by US President Donald Trump.

British officials have underlined that the long-term objective remains the establishment of a Palestinian state encompassing Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.

The UK has already been training a contingent of Palestinian police officers, but under the new proposal the international force would take the lead on security responsibilities.

Should the operation prove effective, Israel would withdraw further from areas of Gaza, although Israeli officials insist that a significant buffer zone will remain under their control to guard against future Hamas attacks.

Diplomatic sources acknowledge that one of the most contentious elements of the plan involves the decommissioning of Hamas weapons and British officials are drawing on lessons from Northern Ireland’s peace process, where weapons controlled by both the IRA and loyalist groups were put beyond use under independent supervision.

The UK also appears to support a role for its former prime minister Tony Blair on a newly proposed “board of peace,” outlined in Trump’s plan, which would oversee the work of a 15-member committee of Palestinian technocrats.

Blair’s potential appointment has drawn backing from Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, who told CNBC during a recent interview: “Tony Blair is a person acceptable to the Iraqis and a friend, having contributed to the decision to go to war with President Bush, at the time, and to overthrow Saddam Hussein’s regime.”
He added: “(Blair) is a great friend of the Iraqis and visits us often and I also hold meetings with him. We certainly wish him success in this mission and we will support him.”

Blair’s position on the board, which will be chaired by Trump, is expected to be confirmed by early November, ahead of a major reconstruction conference in Cairo that Egypt will host to mobilize donor and private sector funding for Gaza’s recovery.

Officials say the cost of rebuilding Gaza is estimated to exceed $67 billion, requiring not only contributions from Gulf donors but also significant private investment.

Questions remain over the precise relationship between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the proposed board.

PA Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian said her government had learned from past mistakes and was intent on reform.

Speaking at a conference in Naples organized by Italian think tank IPSI, she said one of the PA’s key initiatives was overhauling its education curriculum.

“If we develop that curriculum to the best standards of the world but children that are taught that curriculum continue to live under dire occupation, will that give them a narrative of peace? No,” she said.

“What will bring them a narrative of peace, and internalize it, is when children do not experience, on a daily basis, checkpoints, a humiliation, trees being uprooted, the farms being burned and the fathers killed.”


UN Women urges Gaza ceasefire must bring safety, recovery and rights for women and girls

UN Women urges Gaza ceasefire must bring safety, recovery and rights for women and girls
Updated 38 min 25 sec ago

UN Women urges Gaza ceasefire must bring safety, recovery and rights for women and girls

UN Women urges Gaza ceasefire must bring safety, recovery and rights for women and girls
  • Head of body warned needs of women and girls in Gaza “remain at an all-time high”

LONDON: UN Women called on Saturday for the ceasefire in Gaza to be transformed into lasting safety, recovery and rights for women and girls, urging that they be placed at the center of all humanitarian and reconstruction efforts.

“Every woman who rebuilds a bakery, a clinic or a classroom is rebuilding peace. Every dollar invested in women-led aid is a down-payment on hope,” said Sofia Calltorp, UN Women’s Chief of Humanitarian Action, during a press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

“The data is very clear on this: When we invest in women, every $1 generates an $8 return for whole communities,” she added.

Calltorp warned that the needs of women and girls in Gaza “remain at an all-time high,” noting that more than one million women and girls require food aid, and nearly a quarter of a million need urgent nutrition support.

“This ceasefire is our window to deliver, to deliver fast, to stop famine where it has begun and prevent it where it looms,” she said.

The UN official described the toll of the war on women and girls as devastating.

“For two years, women and girls in Gaza were killed at a rate of roughly two every hour. This number only defines the scale of this war, and it will haunt our collective conscience for generations,” Calltorp said.

She added that most women in Gaza have been displaced at least four times since the start of the war, describing the ceasefire as “their first chance to stop running, to find safety, and to rebuild.”

“But winter is coming, and too many still have no shelter,” she said.

According to Calltorp, one in seven families in Gaza was now led by a woman.

“They need aid that reaches them directly, so they can feed their children, access health care, rebuild livelihoods and restore some stability after losing everything,” she said.

She emphasized that both the delivery and design of humanitarian assistance must center women’s needs and voices.

“Because it’s not just about getting aid in and who it reaches, it is also about how we deliver it,” she said.

“If we do not put the humanitarian needs of women and girls at the center, and if we do not include women’s organizations in the response, in recovery, and in the work of rebuilding, then women will be excluded from the future of Gaza altogether.”

Calltorp ended her address by reaffirming UN Women’s commitment to supporting the humanitarian response in Gaza, adding: “At UN Women, we are now working side-by-side with the UN system, which is on the ground fully mobilized to scale up life-saving assistance.”


UNICEF official warns quality of humanitarian aid to Gaza is as crucial as quantity

UNICEF official warns quality of humanitarian aid to Gaza is as crucial as quantity
Updated 18 October 2025

UNICEF official warns quality of humanitarian aid to Gaza is as crucial as quantity

UNICEF official warns quality of humanitarian aid to Gaza is as crucial as quantity
  • Agency calls for emergency supply deliveries to be stepped up amid worsening shortages of food, shelter
  • Fuel, cooking gas, water, food needed urgently, senior emergency coordinator says

GAZA: A senior UNICEF official has warned that the quality of relief aid entering Gaza is as vital as its quantity, stressing the need for unrestricted access to essential supplies to meet the enclave’s mounting humanitarian needs.

Hamish Young, UNICEF’s senior emergency coordinator, who was speaking to Anadolu Agency, said: “Palestinians in Gaza need tents, plastic sheeting, and clean drinking water.”

He highlighted the urgent need for fuel and equipment necessary for water production and distribution, as well as pipes to repair wells and desalination plants.

Speaking from the road leading to the Kissufim crossing, east of Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, Young said he and his team were waiting for permission to allow in much-needed aid.

“We have 50 trucks waiting for permission to move and bring in medical supplies and hygiene items essential to save children's lives,” he said.

According to UNICEF, Israel has allowed 653 aid trucks into Gaza since the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10. This number is far fewer than the 600 trucks per day agreed under the current arrangements.

On Sunday, 173 trucks were permitted to enter, including three carrying cooking gas and six with fuel. No aid entered on Monday or Tuesday, while 480 trucks were allowed through on Wednesday.

Describing conditions in Gaza as “catastrophic,” Young said all hospitals had been either destroyed or severely damaged, while residents faced severe shortages of food and shelter.

He warned that UNICEF urgently needed a “significant amount of food supplies” to address the effects of famine in northern Gaza, adding: “There is an urgent need to make every effort to bring in all these supplies I'm talking about.”

Young continued: “Children in Gaza are in dire need of this support, and we shouldn't sit and wait for these supplies.”

He called for the daily entry of “600 trucks loaded with supplies, including a full range of materials from the private sector and commercial suppliers, in addition to vital humanitarian aid provided by UNICEF, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Population Fund, and the World Health Organization.”

Young added that Gaza also needed around 50 trucks of fuel each day, including cooking gas, which he described as “critical for the population of Gaza,” adding that aid organizations needed freedom of movement throughout Gaza “so that we can deliver supplies to the most vulnerable children, and to their mothers and the families who care for them.”


Palestinian death toll in Gaza tops 68,000, as Israel identifies the remains of one more hostage

Palestinian death toll in Gaza tops 68,000, as Israel identifies the remains of one more hostage
Updated 18 October 2025

Palestinian death toll in Gaza tops 68,000, as Israel identifies the remains of one more hostage

Palestinian death toll in Gaza tops 68,000, as Israel identifies the remains of one more hostage
  • Hamas has said it is committed to the terms of the ceasefire deal
  • The ministry said the number of dead has climbed since the ceasefire went into effect

TEL AVIV: Israel said the remains of another hostage that Hamas handed over the day before were identified as Eliyahu Margalit, as the Palestinian death toll surpassed 68,000 people amid searching beneath the rubble.
Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office said Saturday that Margalit’s body was identified after testing by the National Center for Forensic Medicine and his family has been notified.
The 76-year-old was abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, from the horse stables where he worked in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Margalit is the 10th returned hostage body since the ceasefire went into effect over a week ago.
Hamas handed over an 11th body this week, but it wasn’t that of a hostage.
The effort to find the remains followed a warning from US President Donald Trump that he would green-light Israel to resume the war if Hamas doesn’t live up to its end of the deal and return all hostages’ bodies, totaling 28.
Hamas has said it is committed to the terms of the ceasefire deal, including the handover of bodies. However, the retrieval of bodies is hampered by the scope of the devastation and the presence of dangerous, unexploded ordnance.

The group has also told mediators that some bodies are in areas controlled by Israeli troops.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Saturday that more than 68,000 Palestinians have been killed in the two-year-long war. The ministry said the number of dead has climbed since the ceasefire went into effect, with the majority of the newly counted dead bodies being found during recovery efforts under the rubble.
The figures of the Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government in the territory, are seen as a reliable estimate of wartime deaths by UN agencies and many independent experts.
Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll.
Thousands more people are missing, according to the Red Cross.