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EU Foreign Policy Chief Calls on US to Stop Supplying Weapons to Israel

Residents evacuate from Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, 12 February 2024. (EPA)
Residents evacuate from Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, 12 February 2024. (EPA)
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EU Foreign Policy Chief Calls on US to Stop Supplying Weapons to Israel

Residents evacuate from Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, 12 February 2024. (EPA)
Residents evacuate from Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, 12 February 2024. (EPA)

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday made a thinly veiled call on the United States to cut arms supplies to Israel due to high civilian casualties in its war in Gaza.

Borrell recalled that US President Joe Biden said last week that Israel's response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack had been "over the top" and US and other Western officials had repeatedly said too many civilians were being killed in Gaza.

"Well, if you believe that too many people are being killed, maybe you should provide less arms in order to prevent so many people being killed," Borrell told reporters after a meeting of EU development aid ministers in Brussels.

"If the international community believes that this is a slaughter, that too many people are being killed, maybe we have to think about the provision of arms," he added.

Borrell also noted that a Dutch court on Monday ordered the government of the Netherlands to block all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel over concerns they were being used in violations of international law in the Gaza war.

Borrell said it was contradictory for countries to repeatedly declare that Israel was killing too many civilians in Gaza but do nothing concrete to prevent the killing.

Israel has insisted it takes extensive measures to protect civilians but is forced to conduct military operations in civilian areas as Hamas, the Palestinian militant group responsible for the Oct. 7 attack, operates there.

The United States is Israel's most important foreign arms provider. It gives Israel $3.8 billion in military aid annually, ranging from fighter jets to powerful bombs. Washington has so far not heeded any pleas to cut such aid.

In his remarks in Brussels, Borrell also sharply criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he was not listening to pleas to do more to protect civilians.

"Everybody goes to Tel Aviv, begging 'please don't do that, protect civilians, don't kill so many'. How many is too many? What is the standard?" Borrell said, appearing angry and emotional. "Netanyahu doesn't listen (to) anyone."

Borrell said Netanyahu had been calling for an evacuation of Palestinian civilians from the Rafah area of Gaza - the last part of the enclave where people have found refuge - but the veteran Spanish politician questioned how this could be done.

"They are going to evacuate? Where? To the moon? Where are they going to evacuate these people?" he said.

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Arab World

Rubio: Lebanon-Israel Agreement Paves Way for Lasting Peace

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, top center, speaks at the start of a signing of a framework agreement, described as a first step toward peace following months of conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, at the State Department, Friday, June 26, 2026, in Washington. (AP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, top center, speaks at the start of a signing of a framework agreement, described as a first step toward peace following months of conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, at the State Department, Friday, June 26, 2026, in Washington. (AP)
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Rubio: Lebanon-Israel Agreement Paves Way for Lasting Peace

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, top center, speaks at the start of a signing of a framework agreement, described as a first step toward peace following months of conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, at the State Department, Friday, June 26, 2026, in Washington. (AP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, top center, speaks at the start of a signing of a framework agreement, described as a first step toward peace following months of conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, at the State Department, Friday, June 26, 2026, in Washington. (AP)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the signing of the US-mediated framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel “begins to put in place a framework for lasting peace and security,” which is what “these two nations deserve”.

“The people of Lebanon have suffered tremendously now for decades as a result of outside interference in their affairs, of countries trying to use the country as a launchpad for attacks, and this is not what the people of Lebanon want and that’s not what they deserve,” he added following the signing of the agreement in Washington.

“What they deserve to have is what they once had, and of which there is recent history of, and that is a prosperous and peaceful country, a diverse country where people of different backgrounds are able to live and coexist side by side and, in many ways, was the envy of the region and of the world,” he stressed.

“It will take a lot of work and some time to get back to that point, but we believe today is the first step in that journey. And the first step is sometimes the hardest step, but it’s the one we’re taking together today,” he remarked.

Lebanon, Israel and the United States on Friday signed a trilateral framework agreement aimed at paving the way for a peace deal between the two long-time Middle East adversaries.

The agreement -- which includes a pilot effort in which Lebanese soldiers take control of two areas occupied by Israel, as well as a process aimed at disarming Hezbollah -- is the result of five rounds of talks in the US capital.

Rubio said the people of Israel, particularly those in the north, “have been targeted repeatedly by terrorist attacks launched from the territory of Lebanon, but not by the Lebanese people, not by the Lebanese Government, but by an outside actor who has sought to use that territory to target innocent civilians who have been unable to live in these places for a long time.”

“There is a lot of work ahead. We don’t in any way underestimate the difficulty of the task ahead. But we understand the importance of it, how vital it is, and we are honored to have played a part in bringing this together,” he went on to say.

“Hopefully we’ll make real and tangible progress so that the people of both of these countries can be hopeful about their future – a future of peace, a future of prosperity, a future of mutual coexistence in a way that’s beneficial to the men and women and children, including those not yet born, who deserve what all people deserve, and that is the right to live in their country without fear of harm, without fear of war, without fear of conflict,” Rubio said.

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the broader Middle East war on March 2 with rocket fire aimed at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

Israel responded with heavy airstrikes and a ground invasion, and its troops continue to occupy swaths of southern Lebanon, where they have been carrying out extensive demolition of homes and other buildings.

The conflict has displaced more than one million Lebanese and left more than 4,200 dead, according to Lebanese authorities.

Arab World

Netanyahu Says Israel to Remain in South Lebanon Until Hezbollah Disarms

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the graduation ceremony of the Israel Defense Forces officers' course at a military base near Mitzpe Ramon, southern Israel, 25 June 2026. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the graduation ceremony of the Israel Defense Forces officers' course at a military base near Mitzpe Ramon, southern Israel, 25 June 2026. (EPA)
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Netanyahu Says Israel to Remain in South Lebanon Until Hezbollah Disarms

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the graduation ceremony of the Israel Defense Forces officers' course at a military base near Mitzpe Ramon, southern Israel, 25 June 2026. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the graduation ceremony of the Israel Defense Forces officers' course at a military base near Mitzpe Ramon, southern Israel, 25 June 2026. (EPA)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that Israel would remain in south Lebanon until Hezbollah disarms, shortly after the announcement in Washington of a framework agreement with the United States and Lebanon.

"The most important thing is, first of all, that Israel remains in the security zone in southern Lebanon. This is a major achievement, and we will maintain it as long as Hezbollah has not disarmed," Netanyahu said in a pre-recorded video shared with Israeli media shortly after the trilateral framework agreement was announced.

The agreement is the result of five rounds of talks in Washington aimed at ending decades of hostilities and weeks of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

The agreement "begins to put in place a framework for lasting peace and security," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the signing ceremony.

In his video statement, Netanyahu added that Israel's military would also allow the Lebanese army to take control of territory in two areas.

"We are implementing two pilot areas, both at the army's recommendation. One is entirely outside the security zone and south of the Litani River, while the other is north of the Litani," a river in south Lebanon.

Netanyahu added that Lebanese civilians displaced from the so-called "security zone" that Israeli forces established in south Lebanon won't be allowed to return home.

"We are maintaining the original security zone at all times, outside the range of anti-tank fire. We are not allowing Hezbollah to enter it, nor are we allowing the civilian population to enter," Netanyahu said.

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the broader Middle East war on March 2 with rocket fire at Israel intended to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

Israel then launched devastating air strikes and an invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,200 people.

Under US pressure, Lebanese officials began direct talks with Israel in April in Washington, and a truce was announced on April 17 that ultimately failed to stop the fighting.

A new ceasefire was declared this month, with Tehran insisting that its deal with Washington to end the broader conflict launched by the United States and Israel in late February must include Lebanon.

Arab World

Tunisian Rights Activist Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

Tunisian rights activist Sihem Bensedrine. (Getty Images)
Tunisian rights activist Sihem Bensedrine. (Getty Images)
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Tunisian Rights Activist Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

Tunisian rights activist Sihem Bensedrine. (Getty Images)
Tunisian rights activist Sihem Bensedrine. (Getty Images)

Prominent Tunisian rights activist Sihem Bensedrine told AFP on Friday that she had been sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges including falsifying part of a transitional justice commission's final report.

"Of course, this is a decision that has nothing to do with justice. It has to do with a totalitarian regime that wants to erase the legacy of the IVD," Bensedrine said, referring to the Truth and Dignity Commission of which she was president.

Bensedrine, 75, said she would lodge an appeal. She had been placed in pre-trial detention for over six months following her arrest in August 2024.

Prosecutors accused Bensedrine of falsifying the commission's final report, among other charges.

Bensedrine said she had been targeted by "officials who are holding the state hostage" in order to "settle scores" and "discredit our work".

Human Rights Watch said in a statement "Bensedrine has for decades been harassed, jailed, and pushed into exile for her human rights work. Her sentence would keep her in prison until she's 100 years old."

The Paris-headquartered International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) has said the charges against Bensedrine were "groundless".

The commission's final report, published in 2020, called for "dismantling a system of corruption, repression and dictatorship" within state institutions.