Borrell says IOF displacement order 'utterly impossible' to implement

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
14 Oct 2023 09:52
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As the Israeli occupation readies itself for a potential ground invasion of Gaza, the EU foreign policy chief admits that displacing one million people within 24 hours can only result in a humanitarian catastrophe.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaking at a news conference (AFP)

Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, stated on Saturday that "Israel's" order to forcibly displace one million people from northern Gaza within a 24-hour timeframe is "utterly impossible to implement."

"I am saying that, representing the official position of the European Union... (the evacuation plan) is utterly, utterly impossible to implement," Borrell told a press conference in Beijing on the final day of a three-day diplomatic visit to China.

"To imagine that you could move one million people in 24 hours in a situation like Gaza can only be a humanitarian crisis," he added.

This comes as European Union President Ursula von der Leyen is visiting occupied Palestine and expressing full support to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the occupation tells the people of Northern Gaza to head south in a forced displacement order amid extensive bombardment and a potential ground invasion.

Check out the #EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen's speech last year in #Brussels when she asserted the EU's support for #Ukraine amid unsubstantiated reports that they were being cut off of their basic needs.

This is literally what #Gazans are going through right… pic.twitter.com/xpyTyJtlyC
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 13, 2023

"Europe stands with Israel," said von der Leyen, adding that the country had "a duty to defend its citizens".

However, Borrell's remarks made in Beijing demonstrated the constraints of this assertion, as he emphasized that "Israel" must adhere to international humanitarian law.

"The position is clear," said Borrell. "We certainly defend the right of Israel to defend itself."

"But, as any right, it has a limit. And this limit is international law."

It's important to highlight that "Israel", as an occupying entity, raises a question on how an oppressor can claim to "defend" itself from the oppressed.

On his part, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator slammed the Israeli attempt at forced displacement as in defiance of the "rules of war and basic humanity."

Martin Griffiths posted on X: "The noose around the civilian population in Gaza is tightening. How are 1.1 million people supposed to move across a densely populated warzone in less than 24 hours? I shudder to think what the humanitarian consequences of the evacuation order would be."

The order to evacuate 1.1 million people from northern Gaza defies the rules of war and basic humanity. pic.twitter.com/8WlNTKtfaF
— Martin Griffiths (@UNReliefChief) October 13, 2023

Israeli and Western media seem to have focused on non-existent footage that alleges #Palestinian Resistance beheading Israeli babies.

However, they deliberately turned a blind eye to the thousands of videos that circulated on social media platforms documenting "Israel's"… pic.twitter.com/eFChLFJ9yA
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 14, 2023

Borrell's words come as "Israel" is committing genocide in Gaza, with over 1,900 Palestinians killed, including 614 children, and 7,696 injured, including 2,000 children and 1,400 women, since the beginning of the Israeli occupation's aggression on Gaza. In the past 24 hours alone, 256 were martyred, including 20 children, and 1,788 were wounded, as reported by Al Mayadeen's correspondent.