EU leaders will call for sustainable ceasefire in Gaza, Borrell says

PHOTO CAPTION: Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in this handout picture released on January 14, 2024. Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU leaders will call for a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza at their summit in Brussels on Thursday, the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

"Today the Council goes much further," than in previous months, Borrell said before the summit.

"Asking for a sustainable ceasefire, certainly asking also for the freedom of hostages, but showing a strong concern for the situation of the people in Gaza, which is unacceptable."

Borrell called on Israel to make sure more aid reaches Gaza and said he hoped EU leaders would do the same.

"They are starving. So I hope that the council will send a strong message to Israel, stop blocking, stop preventing the food to come into Gaza and take care of the civilians," he said.

"Certainly Israel has the right to defend, (but) not to revenge."



(Reporting by Bart Meijer; editing by Christina Fincher)