From the Liveblog of
Monday, February 12, 2024
EU’s Borrell suggests US limit military aid to Israel over Gaza civilian casualties
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell makes a thinly veiled call on the United States to cut arms supplies to Israel due to high civilian casualties in its war in Gaza.
Borrell recalls that US President Joe Biden said last week that Israel’s response to the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught had been “over the top” and that US and other Western officials had repeatedly said too many civilians were being killed in Gaza.
“Well, if you believe that too many people are being killed, maybe you should provide less arms in order to prevent so many people being killed,” Borrell tells reporters after a meeting of EU development aid ministers in Brussels.
“If the international community believes that this is a slaughter, that too many people are being killed, maybe we have to think about the provision of arms,” he adds.
In his remarks in Brussels, Borrell also sharply criticizes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he was not listening to pleas to do more to protect civilians.
“Everybody goes to Tel Aviv, begging ‘please don’t do that, protect civilians, don’t kill so many.’ How many is too many? What is the standard?” Borrell says, appearing angry and emotional. “Netanyahu doesn’t listen (to) anyone.”
Borrell says Netanyahu had been calling for an evacuation of Palestinian civilians from the Rafah area of Gaza – the last part of the enclave where people have found refuge – but the veteran Spanish politician questioned how this could be done.
“They are going to evacuate? Where? To the moon? Where are they going to evacuate these people?” he says.
