On Israel, Borrell continues to cry out in the wilderness. Message to the U.S.: “If you think there are too many dead, stop selling weapons.”

Brussels – In the face of the US inaction toward the ongoing tragedy in Gaza, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell – who is the most critical on Israel in the European institutions – taunts the United States: “If you believe the death toll is too high, maybe you can do something to make it lower,” he said today (Feb. 12) in Europe’s capital. The criticism by Borrell of Joe Biden is more specific than the generic call to “do more than just express concern,” which the EU diplomacy chief also made to EU countries. “the European Union is not providing arms to Israel. Others do,” he pointed out. According to the most recent data published in December 2023 by Il Sole 24 Ore, about 70 percent of the weapons used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) come from Washington. No military support comes from the EU, but the same cannot be said of member countries: the second largest supplier of weapons to Tel Aviv is Germany (24 percent), followed by Italy (5.6 percent). Upon arrival at the informal meeting of EU development ministers in Brussels today, Borrell again seemed very hard on Israel. “Even the President of the United States [Joe Biden] said yesterday that the operations are no longer proportional, that they are excessive, that the toll of people being killed is unbearable(28,000, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health, ndr). I think this assessment more and more comes from many people around the world,” the European diplomacy chief said.  “I hope that the whole world will take stock of” the situation in the Gaza Strip: nearly 2 million people bombed constantly without being able to escape.

Infuriating the High Representative is the new operation that the IDF launched in Rafah, on the border with Egypt, where all the displaced people from Gaza have gradually been piling up over the past four months of conflict. “Netanyahu has been asking for the evacuation of a 1.7 million people without saying where this people could be evacuated [to],” Borrell pointed out. Biden raised the same point in his last phone call with the Israeli premier. Before the Rafah operation, Israel should have “ensured the safety of the population with a credible evacuation plan.”

But the Netanyahu-led government remains deaf to any request from the international community and continues on its path toward the “complete demilitarization of Gaza.” So far, the operation launched at Rafah has reportedly caused over 100 Palestinian casualties and led to the release of 2 Israeli hostages. Egypt’s warning that humanitarian aid will no longer be able to enter the Strip from the Rafah crossing in case of massive Israeli attacks also went unheeded.

Also arriving in Brussels was Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of the UN Agency under scrutiny for the alleged involvement of some staff members in Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7. “One thing is sure for me: UNRWA today [does] an [irreplaceable] work,” Borrell said, again provoking Israel, which so far presented no evidence to back up its accusations: “The accusations must be verified. The presumption of innocence is valid for everyone, even for Unrwa.” But there is more: “t is not a secret that the Israeli government wants to get rid of UNRWA. Not [just] now, for many years before, [they have] wanted to get rid of UNRWA because they believed that if they get rid of UNRWA, they get rid of the problem of the Palestinian refugees.” said the EU High Representative.

Josep Borrell with UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini (Photo by Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP)

It was almost a plea by Borrell to those EU countries that decided too soon to cut off funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees. “We are waiting for the investigation to take place,” he repeated twice. There is more than one ongoing investigation: the internal one launched by Lazzarini himself, the one initiated by the UN’s top investigative body (OIOS), and the independent review team led by former French Minister, Catherine Colonna.

The EU is stalling, saying that, for now, there has been no suspension of funds since no payments to UNRWA are expected until the end of February. But it will be difficult for the investigation to be over in two weeks, and Brussels will have to choose sides. Borrell has already decided: “The investigation will take as [long] as needed and in the meantime, people have to continue eating.”