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Doha – The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has expressed grave concerns that the occupied West Bank risks turning into “a new Gaza” as violence escalates in the region.
Speaking at an Arab League meeting in Cairo on Tuesday, Borrell warned that Israel was opening a new front with the clear objective of transforming the West Bank amidst rising tensions and provocations.
Israeli troops and settlers have killed at least 662 Palestinians in the West Bank since Israel launched its ongoing war on Gaza on October 7 last year, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
In the same period, only 23 Israelis, including security forces, have been killed in retaliatory attacks in the occupied territory.
Borrell accused radical members of the Israeli government of attempting to make the creation of a future Palestinian state impossible, citing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several cabinet members who have portrayed such a state as a threat to Israel.
The EU’s top diplomat also noted that Israel was not shying away from openly advocating for the annexation of the West Bank and Gaza as the only path to a peaceful settlement.
“Without action, the West Bank will become a new Gaza,” Borrell cautioned. “And Gaza will become a new West Bank, as settlers’ movements are preparing new settlements.”
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He added that while the international community deplores, feels, and condemns these actions, it struggles to take decisive measures.
Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank reached a record high in 2023, according to Israeli rights group Yesh Din.
The EU has also reported that last year saw the highest number of settlement building permits issued in decades.
Currently, some 490,000 Israelis reside in the occupied West Bank in settlements that are illegal under international law, alongside three million Palestinians.
The Israeli army’s recent operation, launched in late August in the Jenin, Tubas, and Tulkarem regions, is the longest carried out in this area since the second Intifada in the early 2000s.
The assault has resulted in the deaths of 39 Palestinians and has left the affected areas in a state of destruction and chaos.
