EU warns Israel that attacks on UN blue helmets violate international law

The EU faces conflict with divisions in the Middle East. The 27 took more than 48 hours to agree on a common position to condemn Israel’s attacks on the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission, in which 16 member states participate. Late Sunday night, the High Representative, Josep Borrell, achieved the necessary consensus for foreign policy and issued a statement that raised the tone against Israel compared to previous texts and warned that attacks on the Helmet Blues violate international law. indicate a violation.

“They are completely unacceptable. The attacks must stop immediately,” says the EU, which demands an explanation from Israel and a “thorough investigation” into what happened. Regarding troops deployed in southern Lebanon, the text says, “We call on all parties “Urges to fully comply with its obligations to ensure the safety of UNIFIL personnel at all times and to allow UNIFIL to fulfill its mandate.”

“We are deeply concerned by the continued firing of rockets into Israel by Hezbollah, which must cease, and by attacks by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on densely populated areas of Lebanon, which are causing large numbers of civilian casualties among many people. displacement. We urge all parties to respect international humanitarian law in all circumstances,” the statement also said, reiterating the need for a ceasefire.

27 were “strongly divided” on arms ban

“The situation in the Middle East is getting worse, worse, worse,” Borrell warned ahead of a meeting with EU foreign ministers this Monday in Luxembourg. “The Secretary-General of the United Nations is not the one who decides whether this mission will remain or not, it is the Security Council that makes these types of decisions, so stop blaming Antonio Guterres,” he said in a belligerence against Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief. Said about. The United Nations has declared him as persona non grata.

The head of European diplomacy acknowledged how difficult it is to shut down a common situation, saying, “I would have liked to react more quickly to something that was clear.”

Asked about the position of Pedro Sánchez and Emmanuel Macron on imposing an arms embargo on Israel, Borrell – who has already lauded that position – acknowledged that member states are “strongly divided” and he expressed his concern over that possibility. It is left in everyone’s hands. of governments, because it is a “national capability”. For this measure to be adopted across the EU, unanimity would have to be achieved, which seems impossible.

“The Middle East does not need more weapons,” said the foreign minister, Jose Manuel Alberes, who recalled that the granting of new arms licenses to Israel was suspended last October and ships carrying weapons were detained in Spanish ports. I can’t stop. , “We do not want this war to become a total war,” said Alberes, who has chosen the “diplomatic path” and, in particular, to hold a peace conference in which progress would be made toward a resolution of the two states’ conflicts. Is.