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