European Council President Charles Michel said Tuesday that attacking civilian infrastructure is against international law after Israel was accused of bombing a hospital in Gaza.
A massive blast rocked a Gaza City hospital packed with Palestinians on Tuesday, killing at least 500 people, the Hamas-run health ministry said. Hamas blamed an Israeli airstrike, but the Israeli military denied it was responsible and said the hospital was hit by a rocket misfired by Palestinian militants.
“We got this information when we were together during this virtual meeting with leaders,” Michel said, speaking after a video conference of EU leaders to coordinate the bloc’s line on the Israel-Hamas conflict. The attack “seems to be confirmed,” he added, without naming the perpetrators. “An attack against a civilian infrastructure is not in line with the international law.”
The EU leaders issued a joint statement on the topic on Sunday after a week of conflicting messages, for example on aid to the Palestinians. Yet some differences remain and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was more careful with her words on the alleged Israeli bombing. “I have just been informed about the incident,” she said, speaking via video link after the EU leaders’ meeting. Von der Leyen added that she needed confirmation and that “I cannot comment at this moment.”
The differences in approach, with von der Leyen seen as less inclined to criticize Israel, were also on display when Michel and von der Leyen were asked whether they supported the view of Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, who accused the Israeli government of breaking international law by imposing a total blockade on Gaza.
“When you cut the basic infrastructures, when you cut access to water, when you cut electricity … This is not in line with the international law,” Michel said, while von der Leyen replied by asking the press to look at the language in the leaders’ statement.
Von der Leyen was sharply criticized for her recent trip to Israel and for not explicitly calling on Israel to respect international law in its retaliation against Hamas. Speaking Tuesday, however, she stressed that “it is clear to everyone that Israel has the right to defend itself, in line with international and humanitarian law.”
She also said the Commission is tripling the humanitarian aid for Palestinians and that it is also establishing an air bridge to Egypt in order to quickly deliver aid across the border to Gaza.
Not present at the EU leaders’ meeting was Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who was in China where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first photographed handshake between the Russian president and an EU leader since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Orbán was represented in the video meeting by Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, according to two diplomats who were granted anonymity as they are not authorized to discuss the meeting publicly. Nehammer has also met with Putin, in April last year.
