Tragic, inconceivable, catastrophic... In Warsaw, EU foreign ministers gathered on Wednesday, May 7, and Thursday, May 8, for an informal council of foreign ministers. They had no words strong enough to describe the situation in Gaza, after two months of a humanitarian blockade by the Israeli army. The Finnish Foreign Minister, Elina Valtonen, unaccustomed to speaking on the subject, urged for an end to the blockage.

"Day after day, the situation in Gaza deteriorates," added Caspar Veldkamp, her Dutch counterpart. "We see that the humanitarian aid blockade imposed by Israel continues. It is contrary to international humanitarian law."

"International law must be respected," insisted Austrian Beate Meinl-Reisinger, whose country remains particularly close to Israel.

As early as May 6, Jean-Noël Barrot, the French foreign minister, had said at the Assemblée Nationale that "Gaza is on the brink of collapse, chaos, and famine," calling for an immediate ceasefire and access to aid.

"It is time for the European Union and the entire international community to wake up," snapped Belgian minister Maxime Prévot. "What we are witnessing is an absolute disgrace. (...) Deliberately stopping all humanitarian aid, all access to food, healthcare, electricity, water, as a strategy of war, is totally unacceptable."

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