On Thursday, Members of the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza on two conditions. The conditions are the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and the destruction of the terrorist organisation Hamas. The MPs also stressed Israel’s right to self-defence, while condemning the disproportionate military response in Gaza.
In a resolution adopted on Thursday, the 18th of January, with 312 votes in favour and 131 against, with 72 abstentions, in a session of the European Parliament, MEPs called for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza and for renewed efforts to find a political solution, Strasbourg reported.
The resolution was proposed by the Socialist, Liberal and Green Groups, but with an important difference – it called for a permanent ceasefire without demanding that the Palestinian side release all captured Israeli hostages and that the terrorist organisation Hamas be dismantled. The European People’s Party (EPP) amendment also called for a solution to the conflict based on the 1967 agreement and for a shared capital of Jerusalem in full respect of international law.
The Socialists would have adopted the resolution without holding Hamas responsible for the bloody conflict
The European Parliament’s decision is the result of cooperation between the largest European People’s Party (EPP) and the European Conservatives and Reformists Group. Slovenian MEP Romana Tomc attributed the triumph of reason to the alliance on the right, as the EPP had too often compromised with the blackmailing left.
However, another Slovenian MEP, Matjaž Nemec of the Social Democrats, shed a few crocodile tears, as he was hoping for some kind of ceasefire without the destruction of Hamas, the release of hostages, and with the condemnation of the Israeli side. “I could not support such a justification for the killing of innocent civilians,” he explained after the vote. “Such an appeal does not benefit the innocent Palestinians who are trapped in hell. The humanity of the world is being tested. I regret that the European Parliament missed the opportunity to be on the right side of history. We are witnessing a complete dehumanisation in Gaza. And there is no end in sight to the West’s duplicity.”
C. Š.
