News / Palestine

‘No military solution’: EU’s top diplomat says Israel cannot 'defeat' Hamas

Monday, 19 February 2024 7:09 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 19 February 2024 7:09 AM ]

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is seen speaking at the 60th Munich Security Conference, Germany, on February 18, 2024. (Photo by EPA)

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says Israel needs a political, not a military, solution to the conflict with the Palestinians, emphasizing that the Tel Aviv regime cannot defeat the Hamas resistance movement, despite its relentless bombardment campaign in the Gaza Strip.

Speaking during a panel at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, Borrell stated that conversations about peace in the West Asia region have focused on Gaza, where Israel is conducting a military onslaught that has killed tens of thousands in the wake of the October 7 large-scale and surprise attack, dubbed as Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, by resistance fighters.

“Yes, we have to end the war in Gaza, but the West Bank is the real obstacle for the [so-called] two-state solution,” he said. “The West Bank is boiling.”

The top EU diplomat warned that if the United Nations is forced to stop supporting Palestinians in the West Bank, “we could be on the eve of a greater explosion.”

He also underlined that there was no military solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza.

Israeli military, intelligence bodies admit Hamas will survive onslaught on Gaza Strip

Israeli military and intelligence institutions have warned the regime’s high-ranking authorities that the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement will survive the unrelenting onslaught against the Gaza Strip.

Borrell has been one of the most outspoken European politicians on the ongoing Israeli ground and air strikes against Gaza, calling on Western countries, and particularly the United States, to stop providing arms to Israel in light of the growing number of civilian casualties in the besieged coastal territory.

Last week, the EU top diplomat reacted to US President Joe Biden’s recent comment that Israel’s military action was “over the top,” noting, “If you believe that too many people are being killed, maybe you should provide less arms in order to prevent so many people being killed.”

The chief EU diplomat also slammed an order by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the more than one million Palestinians sheltering in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah need to be “evacuated” ahead of a planned military operation there.

“They are going to evacuate — where? To the moon? Where are they going to evacuate these people?” Borrell asked.

Close to 29,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have lost their lives so far during Israel’s genocidal war, which began following Operation al-Aqsa Storm by Gaza-based resistance movements.

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