BRUSSELS, July 15, 2025 (WAFA) – Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, urged the European Union to intensify its efforts toward achieving an immediate ceasefire and guaranteeing the sustainable delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
She made these statements during the fifth EU-Southern Neighborhood Ministerial Meeting held in Brussels, chaired by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and attended by foreign ministers from Mediterranean Arab countries and EU Member States.
Shahin praised the EU’s ongoing support for the Palestinian people and government, particularly its assistance in state-building, reform, development, and efforts to achieve a just peace based on a two-state solution.
She stressed that the principles of international law and international humanitarian law are being violated before our eyes, eroding the rules-based international order.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs added that for 57 years, the Palestinian people have endured an illegal settler-colonial, apartheid occupation, denying them freedom, justice, and self-determination. “Today, we are witnessing what can only be described as a genocide in Gaza, where my people are suffering relentless onslaught aimed at ethnically cleansing the Palestinian people.”
She stressed that starvation is being weaponized, and civilians are being killed while queuing for aid. “Aid must never be used as a tool to deepen the suffering of our people.”
The Minister also addressed the alarming situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which has been fragmented by more than 900 military checkpoints. She highlighted the ongoing Israeli aggression, particularly in the northern areas of the West Bank and its refugee camps, which has resulted in widespread destruction. Meanwhile, she said, Jerusalem and its holy sites are being subjected to the most extreme forms of annexation and Judaization, with massive colonial settlement blocs further severing the city from its Palestinian surroundings.
She warned of an accelerating colonial expansion, land confiscation, forced displacement, and a sharp increase in systematic violations, including growing settler violence and crimes targeting Palestinian towns and private property, stressing that these actions amount to the de facto annexation of Palestinian land and the entrenchment of an apartheid regime, in what she described as an Israeli attempt to eliminate any prospect for implementing the two-state solution.
She added that the occupying power, Israel, is deliberately targeting the Palestinian Authority—illegally confiscating our tax revenues and obstructing our ability to serve our people, stressing that the withholding of clearance revenues amounts to collective punishment. “The EU must urgently leverage its influence to press Israel to release these vital funds essential for stability.”
She added that the Palestinian leadership has presented a credible, responsible plan for the day after in Gaza. However, Israel is working to sabotage it by all means to justify its continued control, determined to prevent the State of Palestine and its legitimate institutions from exercising their political and legal authority over the Gaza Strip. “Despite the challenges, the Palestinian side is moving forward with a bold national program for development and reform — a genuine roadmap toward statehood.”
The minister referred to Article 2 of the EU–Israel Association Agreement, which is based on respect for human rights. “Yet Israel, as the occupying power, continues grave violations of international law, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, acts of apartheid, and, as the ICJ noted, acts plausibly constituting genocide in Gaza.” She questioned how the EU can maintain an agreement predicated on respect for human rights while such atrocities continue: “Shouldn’t the continuation of the EU–Israel Association Agreement be conditioned on Israel’s compliance with its obligations under international law?”
She pointed to the humanitarian measures announced last Thursday by EU Foreign Policy chief Kaja Kallas, describing them as clear evidence that the European Union is capable of acting decisively to stop the war and the killing. She urged the EU to now fully activate all tools at its disposal.
The minister welcomed the EU’s “Pact for the Mediterranean” and shared its vision of cooperation, sustainability, innovation, and prosperity. “But peace and prosperity cannot be achieved while the Palestinian question remains unresolved.” “We know there can be no real security, no lasting peace, and no sustainable development in our region without ending the occupation and achieving a sovereign, independent State of Palestine. It is a legal, political, and historical imperative. It must be the foundation of any serious New Pact for the Mediterranean.”
She said: “I did not come here to speak only of tragedy,” adding: “Palestine envisions enhanced connectivity and cooperation with the EU, grounded in mutual respect, shared ownership, and a commitment to human rights and international law.”
She stressed that development cannot substitute for a just political resolution, emphasizing that inclusive security and conflict resolution must focus on human security and accountability, and address root causes such as occupation and injustice. “We hope the New Pact becomes a framework for justice, dignity, and lasting stability for all people of the Mediterranean.”
“We urge this forum and all future members of the New Pact to take a principled stand. No state should be admitted unless it clearly and explicitly commits to the two-state solution, grounded in international law. This is not a Palestinian precondition. It is a moral and political test for this Pact, the EU, and for all who claim to stand for peace.”
She stressed that the Mediterranean binds us with a shared moral responsibility to uphold international law and to end the decades-long injustice inflicted on the Palestinian people. She called for meaningful engagement in the upcoming international conference on the implementation of the two-state solution, and urged those countries that have not yet recognized the State of Palestine to do so.
She commended the efforts of France and Saudi Arabia to convene the upcoming international UN conference in New York aimed at implementing the principle of the two-state solution, expressing hope that the conference would yield concrete outcomes to ensure the realization of this principle.
Minister Shahin called on all states and parties to engage and participate in the conference, affirming that ending the Israeli occupation of the land of the State of Palestine and enabling the Palestinian people to attain their legitimate and just national rights, particularly their right to self-determination and the establishment of their state with East Jerusalem as its capital is the correct path to achieving security, stability, and prosperity in the region and the world.
“When the very core principles of international law and humanitarian law are violated with impunity, silence is not neutrality—it is complicity. Let us not be complicit,” she said.
T.R.
