Josep Borrell, the E.U.’s outgoing foreign policy chief, on Monday condemned Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s call to condition humanitarian aid to Gaza on the return of hostages held by Hamas.
“While the World pushes for a ceasefire in #Gaza, Min. Ben Gvir calls for cutting fuel & aid to civilians. Like Min. Smotrich sinister statements, this is an incitement to war crimes. Sanctions must be on our EU agenda,” Borrell, who is due to leave his post in the fall, wrote on X.
“I urge the Israeli government to unequivocally distance itself from these incitements to commit war crimes, and call it to engage in good faith in the negotiations facilitated by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt for an immediate ceasefire,” the 77-year-old Spanish diplomat added.
Commenting on the ongoing hostage talks on Sunday, Ben-Gvir urged the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “stop the transfer of humanitarian aid and fuel until all our hostages are returned home, encourage immigration [of Palestinians], and occupy the territories of the Strip to keep them in our hands permanently.”
He spoke days after Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich proposed that Israel “implement a reciprocal humanitarian approach” towards Hamas, which still holds 115 hostages after more than 300 days.
“This would entail conditioning our aid on the return of our hostages. While our captives endure harsh conditions in underground tunnels, we continue to pamper Gaza with resources. In my assessment, this imbalance raises significant ethical concerns and fails to serve the principles of justice,” Smotrich said in a statement on Thursday.
Hamas announced on Sunday that it would boycott a round of negotiations on Thursday, which Israeli security sources previously described as the “last opportunity” to close an agreement.
Last week, Borrell warned that Brussels would hold accountable “all those standing in the way of de-escalation” in the Middle East, while urging an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists.
In his remarks, which came amid mounting Iranian threats to attack the Jewish state, possibly dragging the region into all-out war, Borrell did not make clear who the E.U. deems to be hampering de-escalation.
A spokesperson subsequently told reporters in Brussels that while “it’s not really my place to explain in detail every tweet,” the European Union believes the message was “very clear to those who are concerned.”
In May, Israel’s Foreign Ministry blasted Borrell for comments in which he panned Jerusalem for rejecting Hamas’s terms. Borrell’s remarks were a “dangerous mix of ignorance, hostility and the legitimization of terrorism,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said.
In October, Borrell slammed the Israel Defense Forces’ response to the Oct. 7 massacre—in which Hamas slaughtered some 1,200 people, mostly Jewish civilians—and appeared to call for an immediate stop to the offensive against the terrorist group, leading to criticism from E.U. leaders.
In 2019, while serving as Spain’s foreign minister, Borrell admitted to participating in an antisemitic rally as a child.
