Israel is moving ahead with military action in southern Gaza despite a ruling by the International Court of Justice urging the country to immediately halt its push, EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said on Monday.
The World Court ruling must be implemented, Borrell said ahead of an EU foreign ministers’ meeting, adding he would also work towards reaching a political decision on the launch of a dedicated EU border assistance mission for the Rafah border crossing known as EUBAM.
For his part, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said that he will ask the other 26 European Union member states to issue official backing to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and take steps to ensure Israel respects its decisions.
“I am going to ask the other 26 partners to declare the backing of the International Court of Justice and its decision, and also, if Israel continues to pursue against that opinion of the Court, we would try to take the right measures to enforce that decision,” he told reporters in Brussels during a joint news conference with his Irish and Norwegian counterparts.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said ahead of the meeting that the World Court ruling is binding and must be respected.
“No Israeli hostage will be freed if more people now have to shelter in tents”, Baerbock said, referring to the streams of displaced people following Israel’s continued strikes.
“International humanitarian law applies for all, also for Israel’s conduct of the war,” she added.
