BRUSSELS — Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, accused Israel on Monday of provoking famine in Gaza and using starvation as a weapon of war, an assertion promptly rejected by Israel’s foreign minister.
At the opening of a conference on humanitarian aid for Gaza in Brussels, Borrell stated, “In Gaza, we are not on the brink of famine; we are in a state of famine, affecting thousands of people. This is unacceptable. Starvation is being used as a weapon of war. Israel is provoking famine.”
In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz urged Borrell to “cease attacking Israel and acknowledge our right to self-defense against the crimes of Hamas.” Katz highlighted on X (formerly known as Twitter) that Israel has facilitated “extensive humanitarian aid into Gaza by land, air, and sea for anyone willing to help.” However, he claimed this assistance was “violently disturbed by Hamas militants with ‘collaboration’ by the UN’s aid agency UNRWA.”
The EU’s allegations and Israel’s rebuttal intensify the ongoing debate over the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the complex dynamics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
