Some megre hope of a pause in Gaza.
Mr Varadkar went on to say: “The history of this conflict didn’t begin with the attacks on October 7th and won’t end with a land war in Gaza…This won’t end with a military solution and one of the things we all agreed yesterday, and all 27 countries agreed to this, is that there should be a two-state solution and we need to have a peace conference, and the EU needs to be part of that.”
Why does the EU need to be involved? It isn’t the UN.
Because it wants to be seen as an important bloc working for world peace.
Perhaps this will persuade Starmer to change his position and show how different he is from Sunak and the Tories.
I don’t think the EU’s response goes far enough, they should be calling for an immediate ceasefire on humanitarian grounds if nothing else.
Well unfortunately the UN is toothless, it’s been working on sorting out Israel’s border since 1967 
. The only thing that may force the Israeli Government, any Israeli Government IMO, to take the two state solution seriously (remember the settlers and the orthodox communities will go apeshit) would be economic sanctions, but also travel bans would be useful too. Israel has a very beneficial relationship with the EU, that could be leveraged. Let’s face it, I think they see themselves as more American or European than Middle Eastern.
Once again Starmer proves not the have the courage of his convictions , if he has any convictions. Not a good look for an ex human rights lawyer.
Some material attempts to help Gaza
Getting it all in through Isreal’s closed border may be where the plan falls down.
SFA use, tokenism, as Sunak plays the US poodle (as does the “opposition” Mr. sit on the fence” Starmer.
Medical Aid charity on BBC Today programme this morning tells us 540 children killed so far in Ukraine. In Gaza the figure is around 3000 - a figure that comes from doctors working there. Is Israel any better than Putin? Is Israel a terrorist state?
What will it take to stop the carnage. One assumes public opinion in the USA
IMO this Israeli Government is no better than Putin, and many Israelis know that which is why there has been so many demonstrations against it long before October 7th. The corrupt Netanyahu would sup with the Devil.
The French sending a ship to support hospitals in Gaza via a sea entry seems a good idea
Let us hope the ship arrives quickly (very) and remains safe from errant missiles.
I just don’t understand why the west stands by and does not protest as this revenge blood letting by Israel. They are killing women, children, aid workers and journalists family’s in the Gaza ghetto and no one say very loudly Stop this is a war crime.
With a Jewish wife, and children being brought up in the Jewish faith, Starmer is somewhat between a rock and a hard place.
We saw on the list of companies with links to Israel that Siemens provides the link for the electricity into Israel.
Why not threaten to pull the plug if they carry on with their denial of aid to the civilian population of Gaza?
Because any criticism of Israeli government will be called antisemitism and latter-day nazism and nobody is risking that, specious as it is. I feel terrible for the left-leaning Israelis I know who are now effectively gagged, branded Hamas supporters which obv they are not, because they don’t agree with Netanyahu and his cronies. And it’s their children in the army, not Netanyahu and his cronies’, seeing the cronies’ children are generally exempt from military service on religious grounds. Absolutely shameful.
Amazing that such things should be happening to God’s ‘chosen’ people.
I suppose that depends on what Mr Biden orders IDF to do !
Not that I’m cynical or anything ….
Sadly Jan it’s not just the current dilemma, I think he sits on the fence on every issue.
Anyway, I hope his wife would, as many other jewish people in the UK and elsewhere have, agree that an urgent stop to the killing is imperative.
He’s not sitting on the fence on this one.
Oh I think he is. Sunak threw one, Paul Bristow, under the bus for calling for a ceasefire earlier. So Starmer had to even the score.
If we do get our votes back in time for the GE I won’t be voting Labour (or Tory).