Head of EU foreign policy likens the destruction of Gaza to that of Nazi towns during WWII

According to the UNRWA commissioner general, the purpose of the assaults on the agency’s image was to decertify Palestinians as refugees. This comes a day after an independent study determined that Israel had failed to provide any proof of staff ties to terrorist organizations.

 

The head of EU foreign policy has likened the devastation in Gaza to the devastation inflicted on German towns during WWII.

Rebuilding Gaza’s infrastructure would cost $90 billion (€84 billion), according to Josep Borrell, citing an estimate by the World Bank and the United Nations.

The majority of the physical infrastructure, over 60%, has suffered damage, with 35% being completely destroyed, he said.

He was discussing the European Union’s stance on the murder of journalists, civilians, and humanitarian assistance workers by the Israeli Defense Forces at a plenary session of the parliament.

More damage has been done to Gazan cities than to German ones during WWII.
The head of EU foreign policy, Josep Borrell, began the meeting by announcing the deaths of over 240 assistance workers.

Israel must “ensure the protection of all civilians and all humanitarian workers,” he said, and honor international law, a point he reiterated.

At the same time, UNRWA’s commissioner general said that the agency’s image was under assault in an effort to decertify Palestinians as refugees.

His comments came the day after former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna handed in her findings from an inquiry into UNRWA, which had been prompted by Israeli accusations that some of the agency’s employees had provided assistance to Hamas in relation to the assaults on Israel on October 7.

At least fifteen nations have cut off financial support because of these allegations.

I hope that the final set of donors will acquire the confidence to come back as a donor and partner of the agency,” Philippe Lazzarini said, referring to the report and the measures that would be put in place.

The discovery of mass graves at hospitals in Gaza
Following Israeli raids on two large Gazan hospitals, the UN on Tuesday demanded “a clear, transparent and credible investigation” into the discovery of mass graves.

U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters that credible investigators must have access to the locations, and he also said that more journalists must be permitted to operate securely in Gaza in order to report the truth.

After the Israelis withdrew, the Shifa medical center in Gaza City and Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis were destroyed. Volker Türk, the UN head of human rights, expressed his horror at the damage and the supposed finding of mass graves in and near the hospitals.

Earlier this week, the Palestinian civil defense in the Gaza Strip said that it had discovered 283 remains from a makeshift cemetery inside the major hospital in Khan Younis. The cemetery was constructed during the besiegement of the institution last month by Israeli troops.

The organization said that as cemeteries were not yet accessible, individuals would instead dig graves in the yard of the hospital to lay their loved ones to rest.

Civil defense officials confirmed that some of the remains were those of patients who perished during the hospital’s siege. The attack on the hospital by Israeli soldiers resulted in the deaths of others.

Reacted to with demonstrations
Pro-Palestine demonstrations were more numerous on the second day of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s three-day visit to Turkey.

Marching by the German embassy in Istanbul, the Gaza Solidarity Platform denounced Berlin’s backing of Israel in the Gaza crisis.

Protester Zehra Turkmen said, “We are here today to protest once again this inhumane massacre committed by Germany on Gaza.” She went on to say that Germany gives Israel with more weaponry than the United States.

Germany granted Israel over €3.3 billion in export permits for armaments between 2003 and 2023, according to the Berlin-based investigative organization Forensis.

Numerous lawsuits have been launched against the government in an effort to get the military backing withdrawn, since it has become more and more unpopular.