The European Union’s foreign policy chief has called on Israel’s allies to cut arms supplies for the regime if they want to lessen the immense civilian casualties that its genocidal war against the Gaza Strip is causing.
The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell made the plea while addressing a press conference after a meeting of the bloc’s development aid ministers in Brussels on Monday.
He made a reference to US President Joe Biden’s last week remarks when the latter described Israel’s response to an operation carried out by the Gaza-based resistance groups last October as “over the top,” and also comments by other Western officials who have repeatedly said too many civilians are being killed in Gaza.
“Well, if you believe that too many people are being killed [in Gaza], maybe you should provide less arms in order to prevent so many people being killed,” he said.
The United States, Israel’s biggest ally, provides the regime with $3.8 billion in military aid annually. Washington has also armed Tel Aviv with more than 10,000 tons of weapons since October 7, 2023, when the regime began its genocidal war in response to Operation al-Aqsa Storm by Palestinian resistance groups.
The brutal military onslaught has so far claimed the lives of more than 28,300 Palestinians, mostly women and children, leaving over 67,900 others wounded.
Borrell said it was contradictory for countries to repeatedly declare that Israel is killing too many civilians, but do nothing concrete to prevent the killing.
“If the international community believes that this is a slaughter, that too many people are being killed, maybe we have to think about the provision of arms [to Israel],” He added.
“Netanyahu listens to no one”
The European Union’s top diplomat also took Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to task for turning a deaf ear to all international demands on him to protect civilians in Gaza.
This, after the International Court of Justice issued an interim ruling last month, ordering Israel to act immediately to prevent genocide in the coastal territory. The regime has, however, intensified its aggression against Gaza ever since.
“Everybody goes to Tel Aviv, begging ‘please don’t do that, protect civilians, don’t kill so many’. How many is too many? What is the standard?” said an angry Borrell, who added, “Netanyahu doesn’t listen [to] anyone.”
The EU official, meanwhile, referred to an order given by Netanyahu on Friday to the military to evacuate civilians from the southern Gaza city of Rafah ahead of a planned ground operation against the city.
The city has come to host more than 1.4 million Palestinians, who have fled there from the ravages of the Israeli military onslaught in other parts of Gaza.
Aid organizations say Rafah’s evacuation will be nearly impossible, given the scale of devastation elsewhere in Gaza and the huge number of people, who have been trapped in the besieged area.
“They are going to evacuate? Where? To the moon? Where are they going to evacuate these people?” Borrell asked.
