EU’s Borrell says Sinwar killing opens ‘new perspective’ for Gaza hostage-ceasefire deal

By Agencies and ToI Staff 19 October 2024, 2:30 pm

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High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell speaks to the press after a morning roundtable as part of the Group of Seven (G7) Defense Ministers Summit at the Palazzo Reale in Naples, Italy, on October 19, 2024. (Tiziana Fabi/AFP)

European Commission Vice President Josep Borrell says the killing of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar this week in Gaza opened a”new perspective” on a deal to end the ongoing war there and free Israeli hostages held by the terror group for over a year.

“Certainly after the killing of Yahya Sinwar a new perspective is open and we have to use it in order to reach a ceasefire, to release the remaining hostages and to look for a political perspective,” Borrell tells journalists on the sidelines of a G7 defense summit.

He also says the mission of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon UNIFIL “needs to be reviewed” and possibly strengthened, as Israel fights the Hezbollah terror group there.

“They cannot act by themselves, it is certainly a limited role. It could be considered to expand the role but this requires a United Nations Security Council decision,” he says.