EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday stressed the urgent need to end the ongoing hostilities in the Gaza Strip, saying there was no sense in providing increased humanitarian assistance to "someone who will be killed the next day."
"We should alleviate the suffering of civilians. And for this, we need to increase the volume of humanitarian assistance … But it makes no sense to give food to someone who will be killed the next day. We need to stop the bombing and avoid more deaths. Humanitarian assistance is necessary, but not enough," Borrell told a press conference after the Union for the Mediterranean regional forum in Barcelona.
Speaking alongside forum's Secretary General Nasser Kamel, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Borrell stressed the need to achieve a permanent ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and ensure that Palestinian movement Hamas loses military control over the enclave.
On October 7, Palestinian movement Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip and breached the border, killing and abducting people. Israel launched retaliatory strikes and ordered a complete blockade of Gaza, cutting off supplies of water, food, and fuel. On October 27, Israel launched a large-scale ground incursion into the Gaza Strip.
On Friday, Israel and Hamas declared a four-day truce to exchange some of the prisoners and hostages, as well as allow the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The truce was later extended for two more days with the same terms.
The conflict has so far resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1,300 people in Israel and over 16,000 in the Gaza Strip.