EU’s top diplomat: Establishment of Palestinian state is best guarantee for Israeli security

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks during the IISS Manama security conference in the Bahraini capital on November 18, 2023. (Mazen Mahdi/AFP)

BRUSSELS — EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says the establishment of a Palestinian state would be the best way of ensuring Israel’s security.

Borrell held a video meeting Monday with foreign ministers from the EU’s 27 countries after touring the Middle East for talks on Israel’s war with Hamas.

The EU’s top diplomat says that he has drawn “a fundamental political conclusion” from his discussions across the region.

“I think that the best guarantee for Israel’s security is the creation of a Palestinian state,” Borrell says in a written summary of the EU meeting.

Borrell has insisted Israel should not occupy Gaza after the current conflict ends and that control of the territory should be handed over to the Palestinian Authority.

“Despite the huge challenges, we have to advance our reflections on the stabilization of Gaza and the future Palestinian state,” he says.

In the short-term, Borrell says, after visiting a string of Arab states, that there is a “sense of urgency” over the desperate humanitarian situation in Gaza.

“The UN Security Council resolution calling for immediate humanitarian pauses is a big step forward, but we must ensure its rapid implementation,” the EU official says.

Another major fear is the possibility of the conflict further enflaming volatile situation in the West Bank and dragging in other actors in the Middle East.

“In light of increased extremists and settlers’ violence against Palestinians there is a real risk that the situation could escalate,” Borrell says.

“Reports of a ship hijacked by the Houthis are another worrying signal of a risk of the regional spill over.”

After meeting families, PM says returning hostages ‘a sacred and supreme mission’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks at posters of the Gaza hostages on November 14, 2023. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

After meeting with the families of Israelis being held hostage in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stresses his commitment to securing their release, calling it “a sacred and supreme mission.”

“We will not let up until they are returned, and this is the responsibility of me and the war cabinet,” he says in a statement.

“I listened to the pain of the families. We spoke heart to heart. I shared with them as much as I could about the diplomatic, intelligence and operational efforts we are leading around the clock,” the premier continues, adding that he thinks about the hostages “all the time.”

“We will not stop fighting until we bring our hostages home, destroy Hamas and ensure there will no longer be a threat from Gaza.”

300 UN diplomats watch footage showing terrorists’ atrocities in Oct. 7 massacre

A bloody home on Kibbutz Be'eri, after Hamas terrorists infiltrated southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and murdered some 1,200 people in a vicious onslaught. (Edi Israel/ Flash90)

Roughly 300 UN diplomats attend a screening at UN headquarters in New York of footage showing terrorists’ atrocities during the October 7 massacre in which they killed 1,200 people in southern Israel.

The screening of the footage, compiled by the IDF and featuring uncensored, difficult-to-watch videos, many taken from Hamas terrorists’ bodycams, was organized by the Israeli Mission to the United Nations.

בשעה הקרובה יוקרן כאן באו״ם סרט הזוועות של הטבח שביצע חמאס. השגריר גלעד ארדן הזמין להקרנה גם את מזכ״ל האו״ם שלא הגיע. (בשל אילוצי לו״ז כך נמסר לי מטעמו). להקרנה הגיעו שגרירים , חברי המשלחות וגם מובילי דעת קהל. מי שנואם לפני ההקרנה עכשיו הוא מסעב חסן יוסף, ומשתף את סיפורו pic.twitter.com/pCqzwUmxKF

— יונה לייבזון yuna leibzon (@YunaLeibzon) November 20, 2023

Several relatives of hostages leave meeting with PM claiming gov’t sending mixed messages

Families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and other terrorists in Gaza hold a press conference in Tel Aviv, November 19, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Several family members of the hostages in Gaza left their meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war cabinet in the middle, fuming over what they say have been the mixed messages they have been receiving from the government regarding the goals of the war in Gaza.

Udi Goren, whose cousin is Gaza hostage Tal Haimi, tells Channel 12, “A few days ago, we met with [war cabinet ministers Benny] Gantz and [Gadi] Eisenkot. We heard from them in an unmistakable way that the overarching goal of the war is the return of the hostages.”

However, he says that Netanyahu told the hostages’ families tonight that the goal of destroying Hamas is on equal footing with that of returning the hostages, which infuriated those present, who feel that their loved ones are being allowed to remain in Gaza for more time, as a result.