Letter on Gaza

Letter from EU Staff members to EU leaders to support a ceasefire in Gaza Fields marked with * are mandatory.

President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola President of the European Council, Charles Michel President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen High Representative/ Vice President, Josep Borrell Brussels, 15th November 2023 Dear President Metsola, President Michel, President von der Leyen, HR/VP Borrell, We, a group of European Union Institutions staff, are writing to you to urgently address the situation in Gaza.

Previous appeals have respectfully urged the European Union to use its voice and its position to intervene to stop the bloodshed in Gaza. Despite these appeals from EU staff and the mobilisation of thousands of European citizens, the response has so far been weak and insufficient. We do not believe this response is worthy of the acknowledged role of the European Union as an engine for peace and development, determined to affirm human rights and the rule of law.

Rather than representing the potential peace-making role of European politics, the current EU reaction has generated disappointment and discouragement, casting a shadow of political disaffection that prepares a favourable terrain for populism and extremism in Europe and beyond.

To us it is inconceivable that the EU, as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, could turn its back on the suffering of people. To us it is unacceptable that, through its current attitude, the EU might actually be contributing to that suffering.

President Metsola, President Michel, President von der Leyen, HR/VP Borrell, We condemn the horrific attack conducted by Hamas on October 7th explicitly targeting civilians.

However, the brutality of this attack does not come in a vacuum, as recalled by the UN Secretary General António Guterres. The brutality of Hamas’ attack cannot blind us to a context marred by violence, violation of human rights, deliberate attacks on unarmed civilians, recurrent humanitarian crises and land dispossession in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, perpetrated by Israel in the last 75 years.

Neither should Israel's reaction to the attack be minimised or justified by referencing the unconditional right to “defend” itself. This is not only morally despicable but also legally incorrect. According to paragraph 139 of the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on the legality of the wall, dated 2004, Israel does not have the right to label as “self-defence” attacks in response to aggression emanating from an occupied territory it controls, as it has controlled Gaza for the past 17 years.

Likewise, the genocidal intentions of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his close allies are undefendable. PM Netanyahu, the members of his government and the military hierarchies have made clear and unashamed calls for slaughter, erasure, nuclear holocaust and the levelling of Gaza, all on record, all on camera, from their own mouths.

Since 7th October, Israel has dropped more than 25,000 tons of explosives on Gaza - over 1,5 times more than those dropped on Hiroshima - killing over 10,000 Palestinians. The death toll in Gaza in one month has risen above the death toll in Ukraine in 18 months. According to Save the Children, the number of children reported killed in Gaza in just three weeks (over 4,000) has surpassed the annual number of

children killed across the world’s conflict zones since 2019 to the point that the UN Secretary General as called Gaza “the graveyard of children”.

The lives of Awni, Yahya, Yumna, the siblings Mayar and Bilal, the siblings Ahmed, Tala and Roaa, Ayman, Deema, Misk, and the siblings Huda and Odai, just to name a few, have been brutally taken. Palestinian children had names, dreams and rights as much as all other children on this planet.

Voices rising from Gaza report a horrifying situation:  Israel has heavily bombed and sieged Rantisi Hospital and Al-Nasr Hospital, as reported

by UNICEF.  Israel bombed all houses and buildings surrounding Al-Shifa Hospital and its surgical department, as reported by WHO. Hundreds of patients in Al-Shifa Hospital including Intensive Care Unit patients are still trapped there, without electricity and water. At least 4 ICU patients died so far.  At least 6 premature babies died in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Al-Shifa Hospital due to heavy bombardment and lack of electricity, and WHO reported other 36 babies at risk of dying, who may have already died by the time this letter reaches you.

Reports of Israeli snipers firing on and killing a nurse at Al-Shifa Hospital, who was taking care of NICU babies, were confirmed by Dr. Mads Gilbert, from Doctors Without Borders.  Israeli tanks fired on people trying to flee Al-Shifa Hospital. Reports of tens of wounded, but nobody to help, and tens of casualties, but nowhere to bury them. As we write, Israeli soldiers penetrated inside Al-Shifa Hospital (France 24)"  The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported of Al-Quds hospital under intense bombardment and sniper fire, with Israeli snipers at 20 yards from the hospital gates.  WHO reported heavy attacks against the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza City.  EU staff and at least 45 family members are still stuck in Gaza.  An EU colleague has lost his entire family due to Israeli bombing in the night of 6th November.

Violence has also spiked in the West Bank where settlers and Israeli Defense Forces have attacked Palestinian homes. At least 41 children have been killed there since 7th October (source Save the Children).

Such criminal behaviour can no longer be tolerated, overlooked, minimized or justified.

In this critical situation, at this historic crossroads, double moral and legal standards are a dangerous political poison that endangers us all. As President von der Leyen rightly stated in the case of Ukraine, attacks against civilian infrastructures, cutting electricity and water supplies, are pure acts of terror. The same wholly applies to the acts announced and enacted by Israel against the Palestinian people.

President Metsola, President Michel, President von der Leyen, HR/VP Borrell, As former MSF International President, Dr James Orbinski, stated in 1999 at the Nobel Peace Prize speech “We are not sure that words can always save lives, but we know that silence can certainly kill”. We are vigorously speaking up because we still believe in Europe as a force for peace that can take a stance against war crimes.

Human rights groups around the world are campaigning the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Israel for apartheid and genocide, urging the body to issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.

Come the day when PM Netanyahu and his allies are held accountable – as it surely will – we want to find ourselves on the right side of history, in full alignment with the EU own history, raison d’être and laws.

We underline that EU Treaty stipulates that strategic interests and objectives of the Union are based on democracy, the rule of law, the universality and indivisibility of human rights and fundamental freedoms, respect for human dignity, the principles of equality and solidarity, and respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law.

President Metsola, President Michel, President von der Leyen, HR/VP Borrell, While we welcome the recent announcement of a doubling in the European Commission’s humanitarian assistance to Gaza, humanitarian aid will be pointless in a void of political action against continued bombings and destruction.

In accordance with the principles of EU treaties, International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law, we as EU staff and EU citizens, request you to:  Ask for an immediate ceasefire by both parties to allow unhindered and immediate access of humanitarian aid, including access to water and electricity, provision of emergency care and the release of the hostages.  Demand the respect of the terms and conditions of the Association Agreement between the EU and Israel, with a specific reference to Art. 2. of the Agreement.  Demand the respect of the UN and other international bodies’ resolutions, opinions, reports and investigations.  Request the Member States to remove all restrictions on freedom of expression and dissent around this issue on their national territories.  Abide by your duty of care by expediting the evacuation of EU staff and their families from Gaza and provide them with all needed support.  Engage with Member States on an embargo of weapon trade with Israel as it runs counter to EU value based strategic interest as defined in the TEU.  Follow up on requests from some Member States to discuss imposition of sanctions on members of Israeli Cabinet and other individual Israelis for violation of human rights based on the Council Regulation (EU) 2020/1998.

Best regards,