2024-03-24 14:00:14
Koopmans to Asharq Al-Awsat: The death of children in Gaza due to famine is horrific
The European Union demanded that the delivery of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza not be linked to a ceasefire or the release of hostages, describing the war that has erupted since October 7th as “ugly and tragic.”
Sven Koopmans, the European Union envoy to the Middle East peace process, explained in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat that the risks of expanding the conflict in the region are still great, and that this directly affects regional security, which must be prevented, as he put it.
The European envoy praised Saudi efforts to achieve peace in the region, indicating that the six-party ministerial meeting held in Cairo last weekend is a complement to the European-Arab peace initiative that was launched last September in New York.
Last Thursday, Cairo hosted a meeting of the foreign ministers of Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, the UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization with the US Secretary of State, to discuss efforts to stop the war in Gaza and launch a comprehensive peace process.
Sven Koopmans described the war in the Gaza Strip, about 5 months after its outbreak, as “ugly and tragic,” indicating that the operations of cutting off water, medicine, and food were “unacceptable and brutal.”
He added: “Since October 7, I visited two areas that witnessed the kidnappings and killings carried out by Hamas of hundreds of civilians and militants, and then what happened after that, where more than 31 thousand people were killed, and tens of thousands were injured, and the operations of cutting off water, medicine, and food are unacceptable.” And brutality as well, then the famine that began and dozens of children were killed in hideous operations.”
He continued: “We also have concerns about (Hamas) launching rockets towards Israel, and the exchange of rocket launches between Israel and (Hezbollah), and there are terrorist operations between the two parties, and operations carried out by settlers in the West Bank. All of these events are dangerous and lead to risks.” The situation has escalated and worsened even more than it is now.”
Palestinian children wait for food amid a shortage of food supplies in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip (Reuters)
The European Union envoy to the Middle East peace process stressed, “What we need today is a ceasefire now, which can lead to a permanent ceasefire, and for this to happen as quickly as possible. We also need the release of all hostages, and full access to aid.” Humanity, food and water for the population.
He pointed out, “What we do not want is to link one matter to another. The civilian population needs food now, whether there is a ceasefire or not, or the release of hostages or not. We do not want to link one matter to another.”
The European Union envoy to the Middle East peace process praised the Saudi decision to support UNRWA with $40 million, and said: “The European Union is the largest donor to the Palestinians for humanitarian aid, and we welcome the recent Saudi decision to allocate $40 million to UNRWA, and we are grateful to the Kingdom for this.” the support”.
A comprehensive peace plan
Commenting on the recent meetings in Cairo regarding stopping the war and launching a comprehensive and sustainable peace process, Koopmans explained that the European Union is involved in these efforts in cooperation with partners in the region, led by Saudi Arabia and a number of Arab countries, and that these efforts complement the Arab-European initiative that was launched in New York in September. the past.
He added, “The European Union, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan, in cooperation with a number of Arab countries, reached what is called (Peace Day), which we launched last September in New York, and we established working groups between Riyadh and Brussels to continue peace efforts.” This initiative offers a complete package of peace that includes the political, economic and security aspects in the region, ending with reaching peace between Israel and Palestine, including the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
Koopmans pointed out that “all these efforts stopped on October 7 and the war that followed, but the efforts are still in place, and they are all based on the Arab Peace Initiative, adopting the same principles, and including normalization between the Arab countries and Israel, and the establishment of the Palestinian state.”
Palestinians stand on the ruins of a house that was hit by Israeli bombing in the northern part of Rafah, south of Gaza (AFP)
He continued: “I also know that my Arab friends in the Emirates and Qatar are working on a plan to end the war, but it focuses on the situation in Gaza, and what will happen in the West Bank, and I am happy that all these actions have happened, and we are in contact with our Arab colleagues and I am happy that they are discussing all these matters.” With the US Secretary of State, as the United States works closely with Israel, and therefore has a great responsibility in this regard.”
According to the European envoy, the Cairo discussions complement previous Arab-European efforts, and he said: “As I heard from Prince Faisal bin Farhan (Saudi Foreign Minister), that these efforts complement the work that we have done, and I am sure that the European Union will be greatly involved, and everything What I can say is that I welcome all these efforts, and I look forward to communicating and engaging in these efforts, as we can deal with them greatly.”
Houthi attacks and regional security
In another regard, the European Union envoy to the Middle East peace process stressed that the risks of expanding the conflict in the region, especially the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and the targeting of ships, affect the Gulf, the European Union, and regional security in general.
He said: “I see that there are great risks of expansion of the conflict, such as the exchange of attacks between Israel and Hezbollah, as dozens of people have already been killed, and there are more than 100,000 people who have been removed from their homes, in addition to the unstable situation in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Many people were killed in these areas, and entry to the Holy Mosque was prevented, in addition to the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, and attacks against ships. All of these attacks affect Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, and the European Union. For this reason, the European Union launched a naval mission to protect ships.”
The German frigate “Hessen” during its participation in the European mission in the Red Sea early last February (AFP)
He continued: “There are risks of the conflict expanding into many other regions. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict affects all countries of the world, and Saudi Arabia and the European Union are neighbors of this conflict, which greatly affects our regional security, so we must all engage in all these efforts to prevent the expansion of the war, and here I thank Saudi Arabia for the partnership in order to reach peace and resolve the conflict. I am very happy that the Kingdom is working to establish the Palestinian state, and there must be a full partnership from all parties. The European Union is also working with everyone to achieve all these efforts.”
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