Borrell calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza

2024-03-04 20:06:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The head of European Union (EU) foreign policy, Josep Borrell, called on Monday for an immediate ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, the group declared a terrorist by the United States and the EU - in the Gaza Strip.

"I join [US] Vice President Kamala Harris' call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Then, there should be no obstacle to a Security Council resolution on this," Borrell wrote on the X social network.

He stressed that it is time for the United Nations Security Council to act, adding that "Harris rightly said that many people have been killed and called on Israel to allow unimpeded humanitarian access."

Earlier in the day, US Vice President Kamala Harris called on Hamas to agree to an immediate six-week ceasefire, while urging Israel to do more to increase aid shipments to Gaza.

Her statements are among the harshest made by any senior leader of the US Government so far regarding the war between Israel and Hamas, which began in October of last year.

"Given the high level of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire," Harris said during an event in Selma, Alabama. "There is an agreement on the table and as we have said, Hamas must agree to the agreement. Let's reach a truce".

"People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane and we must act... The Israeli government must do more to significantly increase aid shipments. There are no excuses," she said.

A day earlier, a Hamas delegation went to Cairo to take part in the latest round of talks on a ceasefire, but it is unclear whether any progress has been made in the talks.

The Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, reported that Israel had boycotted the talks after Hamas rejected its request for a list of hostages still alive.

Washington is pushing for a ceasefire to take effect at the start of Ramadan, which begins in a week.

Such a ceasefire would last six weeks, following a shorter one-week ceasefire last November. Dozens of hostages held by Hamas would be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.

Israel's deadly war in the Palestinian enclave began after Hamas militants swept into southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 250 hostages.

More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since then, according to Palestinian health authorities, from Israel's air, sea and ground offensive, which has wreaked havoc in the enclave.