EU tells Israel renewed fighting in Gaza is ‘unacceptable’

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says she told Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar that Israel’s renewed military campaign in Gaza is “unacceptable.”

“Yesterday I also talked to Foreign Minister Sa’ar… what is happening, why are you doing this. And I mean, also conveying the message that this is unacceptable,” the Estonian diplomat tells reporters in Brussels.

Kallas says she was referring specifically to “the loss of civilian lives.”

Kallas says she will travel to Egypt on Sunday to discuss the situation with the “Arab Quint” — Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE — adding there was a need to increase diplomatic pressure on Israel.

According to the Israeli readout of yesterday’s phone call, Sa’ar told Kallas that Israel “has no choice” but to renew military operations in the Gaza Strip, stressing that while Israel has endorsed proposals offered by US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff that would maintain the ceasefire, “Hamas has rejected them twice.”

Sa’ar also emphasized to Kallas that the IDF is operating “solely against Hamas and terrorist targets while working to minimize harm to the civilian population.”

The conversation came the same day Kallas released a joint statement with EU commissioners saying, “The EU deplores the breakdown of the ceasefire in Gaza and the deaths of civilians, including children, in Israeli airstrikes,” calling on Israel to end the campaign and for Hamas to release all the hostages.

“The EU believes that the resumption of negotiations is the only way forward,” the statement continued.