There is no other option other than a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the top EU diplomat said Monday.
Speaking at a joint news conference after a meeting of the EU-Israel Association Council, Kaja Kallas said: “We support the Palestinian Authority and its return to Gaza. We support the return of every displaced Palestinian for whom Gaza is their home.”
She added: “When the time comes, the EU will also support Gaza’s reconstruction, together with the regional actors. Palestinians must be able to live in Gaza.”
The European Union on Monday pushed Israel over its operation in the West Bank and the fragile cease-fire in Gaza at a meeting with the country’s foreign minister in Brussels.
“We are closely watching developments, and cannot hide our concern when it comes to the West Bank,” Kallas said.
Israel said on Sunday its troops would remain for many months in refugee camps in the northern West Bank, after tens of thousands of Palestinians living there were displaced by intensifying, weekslong military attacks.
“The cease-fire is a real chance to break the cycle of violence. It is imperative that we now move towards second phase,” Kallas said.
The first phase of the truce is due to expire in early March, and details of a planned subsequent phase have not been agreed.
The EU and Israel meeting – which included foreign ministers from the bloc’s member states – was the first under the framework of an association agreement between the two sides since 2022.
That followed a decade-long suspension of such talks by Israel over EU criticisms of settlements in the West Bank.
The 27-nation bloc has been split over its approach to Israel and the war in Gaza.
Spain and Ireland last year called for the bloc to suspend its association agreement with Israel due to abuses they allege were committed in Gaza.
But other pro-Israel countries in the EU refused to go that far.
“I’ve heard all the positions of all member states, and I reacted to their position and their concerns, and I brought the Israeli positions,” Israeli minister Gideon Saar said.
“We are used to deal with criticism.”
Rights groups had urged the EU to take a tough line with Israel at the meeting over its alleged abuses, with Human Rights Watch saying it should not be “business as usual”.
“The only purpose of this Association Council meeting should be to call out those crimes and to announce long overdue measures in response,” the group said.
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