The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has called on Israel’s allies, particularly the United States, to halt the supply of weapons, citing the high casualty toll in Gaza. Borrell stated during a press conference in Brussels on Monday, February 12, 2024, “If you acknowledge that too many lives are being lost, perhaps reconsidering the arms supply could prevent further casualties.”
“Doesn’t it make sense?” he questioned, standing alongside Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), who is facing pressure from Israel to resign. Borrell continued, “How often have we heard prominent leaders and foreign ministers worldwide express concerns about the escalating death toll?”
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“If the global consensus is that this constitutes a massacre, with too many lives lost, then perhaps reevaluating arms sales is warranted,” Borrell emphasized. The EU’s top diplomat also criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s directive to evacuate over one million Palestinians from the Gaza city of Rafah ahead of an anticipated military operation.
“Evacuate them to where? The moon? Where exactly are these people supposed to go?”
– Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
This isn’t the first instance where Borrell has voiced apprehensions about an incursion into Rafah in southern Gaza. Just a day earlier (February 13, 2024), he warned that such an assault ‘could result in an unimaginable humanitarian disaster’ and significant tensions with Egypt, the neighboring country.
Arms-Supplying Nations to Israel
The US, UK, Canada, and Germany persist in supplying arms to Israel, despite mounting pressure from human rights groups. The US remains steadfast in its provision of virtually unconditional support and weaponry to Israel, allocating $3.8 billion annually. Currently, Congress is voting on an additional $14.5 billion military aid package for Israel.
Since 2015, the UK has licensed at least $599 million worth of military exports to Israel, encompassing components for combat aircraft, missiles, tanks, technology, small arms, and ammunition, according to Human Rights Watch.
Approximately 15 percent of the components in the F-35 stealth bomber aircraft, currently deployed in Gaza, originate from the UK.
On November 10, 2023, demonstrators blockaded the entrance to British Aerospace System (BAE) factory in a protest by ‘Workers for a Free Palestine’, demanding an end to arms sales to Israel and supporting an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
According to the Financial Times, Germany exported over $379 million worth of military equipment and arms to Israel last year, marking a tenfold increase since 2022. Following the October 7 Hamas attack, Germany approved 185 additional licenses, as reported.
The government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has faced criticism for the country’s ongoing weapons sales to Israel. Activists and human rights groups have accused the government of exploiting regulatory loopholes to export military equipment to Israel, despite legislation prohibiting arms exports to foreign entities if there is a risk of their use in human rights abuses.
Nicaragua has threatened to bring the US, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands before the ICJ for complicity with Israel’s actions, demanding that these countries cease sending weapons to Israel and warning of accountability for the consequences. Multiple humanitarian agencies and UN officials have called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, where at least 28,473 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military campaign.
Despite global leaders’ appeals to reduce civilian casualties, Israel continues to employ explosive weapons and munitions in densely populated areas, resulting in significant humanitarian ramifications. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has highlighted the unprecedented levels of casualties inflicted by Israeli military operations in Gaza.
Terrifying Rafah Incursion: Consequences
Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis stated that European countries bear responsibility for the horrifying events unfolding in Gaza. “We Europeans created the problem … we are playing a vicious role, in its perpetuation,” Varoufakis emphasized. He also criticized Borrell for alleged hypocrisy, asserting that the EU was ‘collectively arming’ Israel, despite Borrell’s claims of insufficient pressure on Israel. “As we speak, Germany, France, and Italy are sending the armaments that are being used in Rafah to kill people,” Varoufakis added.
His remarks coincide with reports of numerous casualties from Israeli airstrikes on Rafah, prompting widespread apprehension about an impending major offensive in the densely populated area. Meanwhile, Volker Turk, the UN’s human rights chief, expressed deep concern about the looming Israeli ground assault on Rafah. Turk warned of the horrifying consequences if the planned incursion proceeds unchecked.
“A potential full-fledged military incursion into Rafah, where some 1.5 million Palestinians are packed against the Egyptian border with nowhere further to flee, is terrifying, given the prospect that an extremely high number of civilians, again mostly children and women, will likely be killed and injured,” Turk stated. Rights groups echoed Turk’s concerns, cautioning that a large-scale assault on Rafah, the last relatively safe enclave in Gaza, would result in significant civilian casualties.
More than half of Gaza’s population has sought refuge in Rafah to escape Israeli bombardment, which has devastated much of the territory. Most of those in Rafah were displaced by Israeli offensives in other parts of Gaza. Hamas, the governing authority in Gaza, warned Israel that a ground offensive in Rafah could jeopardize ongoing negotiations for a ceasefire and the exchange of captives and prisoners.
According to Palestinian authorities, more than 28,340 people, predominantly women and children, have been killed in the Israeli assault on Gaza since October. The relentless Israeli bombardment and ground offensive have displaced over 80 percent of the population and left much of the territory in ruins. Israel initiated its military campaign in Gaza following a surprise attack by Hamas on southern Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,139 people, mostly civilians, according to official Israeli figures.
