The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrellwarned this Tuesday that the ground offensive undertaken by the Israeli Army in Rafah will cause an “even bigger” humanitarian crisis from which the Gaza Strip already suffers.

“Certainly the situation is very worrying. “I cannot anticipate the humanitarian losses that this will create,” warned the head of European diplomacy upon his arrival at a Council of Community Development Ministers. another major humanitarian crisis, even bigger of what it is. We’ll see how we can mitigate the consequences of this situation,” he added.

Likewise, Borrell regretted that the Israeli ground offensive in this southern town, bordering Egypt, has begun “despite all the requests of the international community.” “I fear that This will again cause many civilian casualties“, he insisted, recalling that in the Strip there are 600,000 children who “will be pushed to safe areas” although he stressed that “there are no safe areas in Gaza“.

He also stressed that the EU is not on the ground to gather information, something they get from the press and the United Nations, which “has the capacity to assess the situation there.”

Asked if the European ministers are going to take any measure in response to this situation, the Spanish politician stated that the Development ministers will talk about “how to increase support“, while at the next meeting of foreign ministers, on the 27th, the political situation will be considered. “This is not the place to discuss sanctions, but rather cooperation and support. We will see at the next Foreign Affairs Council,” he commented.

On letter sent by Spain and Ireland to the European Commission to ask to restrict the Association Agreement between the EU and Israel, Borrell has indicated that, according to the information available to him, the president of the institution, Ursula Von der Leyen, has not responded to the letter. Borrell has made it clear that, “at this moment, unfortunately, there is no possibility of starting to discuss peace plans“and has asked to continue working for a ceasefire, free the hostages held by Hamas and begin a political process.

Furthermore, he has emphasized that he sees no reason why payments to the UNRWA following the independent report prepared by former French minister Catherine Colonna following Israeli accusations of terrorism against the organization. After that report, Borrell maintained that “the idea of ​​cutting funding to UNRWA has no basis” and recalled that all member states have resumed payments to the agency, a “critical institution for hundreds of thousands of people.”

He has also noted that he has received a letter from the head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, in which he requests that the European Commission proceed with the next disbursements planned for the agency and has trusted that the member countries will support this request.