EU leaders call for 'humanitarian corridors and pauses' in Gaza Strip

The leaders of the European Union have asked this Thursday at the Brussels summit for "humanitarian corridors and humanitarian pauses" so that aid can reach the Gaza Strip.

"The European Council expresses serious concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and calls for continued, rapid, safe and unhindered access and humanitarian aid to reach all those in need of help through all necessary measures, including humanitarian corridors and humanitarian pauses", includes the draft of the conclusions that the leaders have approved.

Countries such as Spain and Ireland preferred that the declaration include a call for a ceasefire, but others such as Germany and Austria did not agree with this expression and have opted from the beginning for the demand for humanitarian pauses, which is the option has ended up imposing.

The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, has made it clear that "no one is opposed to humanitarian pauses" and that the debate is about "if you call for a ceasefire, it means that Israel cannot defend itself", something with which The EU agrees, always within the limits of international law. In that sense, a diplomatic source has assured that "if there was someone who could understand that Europe is asking for a ceasefire, it would be a problem."

The EU has committed to working with its partners in the region to protect civilians and provide food, water, medical assistance, fuel and protection to the population "ensuring that terrorist organizations do not misuse this assistance."

The leaders have also called on Hamas to release all the hostages it captured in the October 7 attack by its armed wing against Israel, among whom there are also European citizens, one of them Basque.

European leaders have stressed the need for the war not to escalate to other countries in the region, for which they have committed to maintaining contacts with their partners, including the Palestinian National Authority.

The conclusions of the summit assure that "the EU is prepared to contribute to reviving a political process based on the two-state solution", one Palestinian and the other Israeli, and that it supports holding an international conference for peace, a proposal that Spain has made. In fact, Spanish diplomatic sources have considered the inclusion of the peace conference to be very good.