Brussels points to Hamas for the failure to extend the stop to the fire in Gaza and avoid condemning Israel’s blockade to humanitarian aid

The failure in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas to move on to the second phase of the agreement of the Alto El Fuego is, for the European Commission, the responsibility of the Palestinian organization while avoiding condemning the new siege to the Gaza Strip announced by the Government of Benjamín Netanyahu. In a statement issued late on Sunday and repeated on Monday by the exterior spokesman, the community government “condemns Hamas’s refusal to accept the extension of the first phase of the high -fire agreement in Gaza” while limiting himself to pointing out that “Israel’s subsequent decision to block the entry of all humanitarian aid in Gaza could have humanitarian consequences.”

On Sunday, the first phase of the high fire agreement between Israel and Hamas expired without the two parties having managed to agree on that six -week phase, nor the passage to the second phase.

Based on the three -phase agreement reached last January – with the mediation of Egypt, Qatar and the US – Israel and Hamas had to negotiate the details of the second phase before the first end, but that has not happened due to the tensions and frictions between the two. The second step contemplates the delivery of the rest of the hostages – the calculation is that there are 59 people who were kidnapped, although Tel Aviv believes that about thirty have died -, the withdrawal of the troops of Israel of the enclave and the end of the war.

The mediators have tried to achieve an in extremis agreement before March 2, without achieving an understanding between the two enemies. Israel has put on the table a proposal prepared by Donald Trump’s envoy for the Middle East, which raises the extension of the first phase 50 more days, with the release of more hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, but without the final end of the war, which is what Hamas demands.

Hamas called “unacceptable” the proposal of Israel, since it considers that this decision allows them to dodge the withdrawal of their troops from the enclave, including the strategic corridor of Philadelphia, and not face the end of the war, as stated in the pact they signed in Doha in January. The Islamist group insists on negotiating and moving on to the second phase, in which Israel would have to remove all its stripes from the strip.

“The EU asks that negotiations on the second phase of the Alto El Fuego resume quickly and expresses its firm support to the mediators,” adds the statement of the European Commission, which recalls that this truce “would contribute to the release of all the remaining Israeli hostages, at the same time guaranteeing the necessary conditions so that the recovery and reconstruction of Gaza can begin.” “All parties have the political responsibility of making it come true,” he adds.

“The EU reiterates its appeals in favor of full, fast, safe and obstructless access to large -scale humanitarian aid for the needy Palestinians and to allow and facilitate humanitarian workers and international organizations to operate effectively and efficiently within Gaza,” says the statement, which is flat with respect to the possibility that Israel prevents the arrival of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip as well as the threat There will be “more consequences” if all hostages are not released.

It is not the first time that the European Commission is equidistant with respect to Israel. As soon as the war began after Hamas’s attacks on October 7, 2023, the president, Ursula von der Leyen, traveled to that country and showed his support closed to Netanyahu without putting limits to the response with which he was already massacing the Gazatí population. From there, the conflict in the Middle East is one of the ones that most divides the EU since there are many countries, such as Germany or Austria, that they maintain close links with that country and has caused the community block to have dragged the feet when condemning the killing.

Last week a meeting was held within the framework of the EU-Israel Association Council at the request of Spain and Ireland that in February 2024 asked to review the trade agreement for the violation of human rights in Gaza, where 48,000 people have been killed. That ambition was very small at the meeting. The EU maintains its preferential agreements with Tel Aviv, although “deeply deplores the unacceptable number of civilians, especially women and children, who have lost their lives, and the catastrophic humanitarian situation, especially caused by the insufficient entry of help in Gaza.”