Speech delivered by Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, on behalf of High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell.

The last European Parliament Plenary to discuss this desperate humanitarian crisis took place in April. Since then, the situation has continued to deteriorate dramatically. So far, more than 41,000 people have been killed and a further 94,000 have been injured in Gaza. Almost 2 million people are internally displaced. 495,000 are facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity, while 745,000 face emergency levels of food insecurity. And 86% of Gaza Strip remains under Israeli evacuation orders. 

It is nearly a year now since the brutal and indiscriminate Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel and the beginning of the war in Gaza. For many months, we have remained steadfast in our call to reach an immediate ceasefire, unconditional release of all hostages, and protection of civilians. Today, this call is more urgent than ever.  

Since we last discussed this tragedy back in April, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has also seen a surge in violence. Demolitions, construction of illegal settlements, and forced displacement of resident Palestinians and refugees; all of this is on the rise, as are terrorist attacks against Israelis. There have been over 600 Palestinian killed, including more than 100 children, this year alone in the West Bank.

The European Union has already imposed sanctions on some of the leaders of the extremist settlers and relevant entities. Furthermore, discussions are currently ongoing in the Council following High Representative [Josep] Borrell’s proposal to impose sanctions against violent settler enablers, including two ministers for their public incitement to violence against Palestinians civilians.  

While we strive to solve the immediate problems, we must also continue our outreach in favour of the two-state solution. As part of our efforts in favour of the two-state solution, we need to continue to support the Palestinian Authority, including through its reform process. The European Union is the biggest provider of external assistance to the Palestinian Authority. In a sign of our commitment, the [European] Commission has adopted an emergency package of €400 million for 2024, of which over €272.5 million has already been disbursed.