Thursday December 05, 2024

EU FMs deplore worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza

Published : 13 Nov 2023, 20:15

Updated : 13 Nov 2023, 20:18

  DF News Desk
A general view of an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels on Monday. Photo: Francois Lenoir/European Council/dpa.

European Union Foreign ministers on Monday deplored the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza as they arrived at a meeting in Brussels where Russia's war against Ukraine is also on the agenda, reported dpa.

The EU is calling for "immediate pauses and humanitarian corridors to be established in order to face the dire situation of the people in Gaza," said EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell.

Heavy fighting near the Gaza Strip's main hospital on Sunday was escalating fears about the fate of staff and patients as fast-depleting fuel supplies widen the humanitarian crisis among Palestinian civilians.

"Patients in intensive care have no chance. There's no oxygen, there's no water, there's no medicine, so these people are going to die," said Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.

"We ask Israel to show maximum restraint in order to save civilian lives," Borrell said.

The war in Gaza Strip is not the only conflict on Monday's agenda. However Russia's war against Ukraine and the aftermath of the Azerbaijani military operation against Armenians in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh have taken a back seat to the Middle East conflict.