EU’s Josep Borrell calls for Gaza cease-fire during meeting with Palestinian PM

The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell met with visiting Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in Brussels and renewed calls for a cease-fire in Gaza.

Mustafa represents the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority that controls parts of the occupied West Bank.

“We must do everything in our power to reach an immediate end of the hostilities, to achieve the immediate release of all hostages, to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza,” Borell said.

Borrell urged people not to “forget what’s happening in the West Bank” alongside the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

“There we see an intensified spiral of violence. Indiscriminate and punishing attacks by extremist settlers, more and more targeting humanitarian aid heading to Gaza. And they are heavily armed,” he said. “And the question is, who is arming them? And who is not preventing this attack from happening.”

Also present at the meeting was Norwegian Foreign Minister Barth Eide.

The statement comes after Norway, Spain and Ireland announced they would recognize Palestinian statehood.