European 'empty rhetoric' is not enough to stop Israel's 'ethnic cleansing' of Gaza, MSF says
THE EUROPEAN UNION has the political, economic, and diplomatic means to stop Israel's 'calculated evisceration of the very systems that sustain life' in Gaza, and 'empty rhetoric' is not enough.
That's what European government leaders have been told in an open letter written by the heads of the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), eleven of whose staff members have been killed during the 20 months of war on the besieged Palestinian territory.
Dr Christos Christou, MSF International's president and Christopher Lockyear, the NGO's secretary general, described Israel's campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza as 'ethnic cleansing, wrapped in the rhetoric of security defence'.
'On a daily basis, MSF teams witness patterns consistent with genocide through deliberate actions by Israeli forces – including mass killings, the destruction of vital civilian infrastructure, and blockades choking off access to food, water, medicines, and other essential humanitarian supplies,' they wrote.
Israel is systematically destroying the conditions necessary for Palestinian life.
This pattern of violence and disregard for international humanitarian law, the said, 'shows that this war run by Israel in Gaza is against Palestinians as a whole'.
Israel stands accused of committing genocide in Gaza in a case taken by South Africa at the International Criminal Court.
It has also been accused of genocide by NGOs Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has also
described Israel's actions in Gaza as genocidal.
Despite these allegations, European support for Israel has remained steadfast, with some exceptions.
Last month, some European states closely allied with Israel openly criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war and the ongoing military operations and settlement expansions in the occupied West Bank.
That tone has
since shifted back to support for Israel
in the wake of its attack against Iran last Friday, which has also drawn attention away from the plight of the people of Gaza.
Weaponising aid
MSF pointed to the spate of massacres that have been committed by Israeli forces while hungry people have been waiting for humanitarian aid handed out by the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation(GHF), an organisation the UN and NGOs refuse to work with.
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'The GHF launched its activities on 27 May, as part of the US-Israeli plan that instrumentalises aid,' the letter reads.
'Since then, hundreds of Palestinians have been treated in hospitals, and scores have been killed, after being shot at these aid distribution sites while waiting to receive basic necessities for survival.
'Humanitarian aid is being weaponised. It is being used as leverage to forcibly displace people, to meet military objectives, or blocked entirely.
Aid is not a bargaining chip. It is a lifeline.
'Denying it is collective punishment – a war crime.'
Yesterday, Israeli forces killed 34 people near a GHF distribution site. Today, Israeli forces
killed at least 51 people and wounded more than 200
while they waited to get flour from a UN site.
The war in Gaza is becoming ever more deadly and devastating. In what's become a macabre daily routine, more desperately hungry people were gunned down today, as they tried to collect food aid from the new US and Israeli backed distribution centre.
pic.twitter.com/X80yRWuPHd
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News)
June 16, 2025
'Empty rhetoric'
'The European Union and European governments have the political, economic, and diplomatic means capable of exerting real pressure on Israel to stop this assault and open Gaza's border crossings to unhindered humanitarian aid,' the MSF letter said.
'These are not theoretical instruments; they can be effectively mobilised in defence of international law and to protect civilians.
The letter noted the recent rebukes of Israel by European leaders.
'Yet these words ring hollow, as they fail to take the substantive action needed to stop the slaughter, and hypocritically continue to provide weapons to Israel that kill, burn, or permanently disable the people who end up in our hospitals. This must stop.'
MSF said the words and actions of European leaders are 'a test of your credibility and leadership'.
Now is a moment that will define your legacy and determine whether laws meant to protect civilians in war retain any meaning at all.
'It requires political courage, legal responsibility, and moral commitment. The scale of suffering in Gaza demands more than your empty rhetoric.
'Every delay, every equivocation, and every policy that permits the machinery of devastation to roll forward with impunity is an act of complicity.'
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This is probably the biggest global coordinated march for Palestine that we have seen. And even though we didn't reach Rafah, we think we did succeed in highlighting what's happening,' he explained. 'Just yesterday 38 people were killed while queuing for aid, and this has become a pattern now, over 300 people in the last three weeks. 'I left on Thursday. I was in the Dáil on Thursday morning. I'm back today, back for the Dáil, today. I think most people in this country want politicians to do everything they can to stop this genocide. This is a contribution that I felt that I could make in supporting this people-powered movement that we have.' Deputy Murphy said the next focus now is on a meeting in Brussels next week. "We definitely recognise that this phase of the global March to Gaza is finished. We accept that we will not be reaching Rafah, and those who remain there will not be reaching Rafah. 'There's a meeting in Brussels next week when Foreign Affairs Ministers are meeting with the Israeli Minister for Foreign Affairs. We think that's horrendous in the context of the genocide that's been going on for 20 months. 'I think it's horrendous that Ursula von der Leyen is still talking about Israel's right to defend itself and blaming others for instability in the Middle East, considering Israel's ongoing genocide and then starting a war effectively with Iran. So that's our next focal point." Meanwhile, Mr Collins questioned what was the objective of the trip and said he would have advised Mr Murphy against travelling if he was a member of Independent Ireland. Mr Collins said it is 'Dáil time' and TDs are supposed to be working. He also questioned why Mr Murphy put himself in danger. 'As party leader, if one of my TDs came to me and said they wanted to go travelling. First of all, I'd say, it's Dáil time and it's work time, you're supposed to tend to your duties,' said Mr Collins at Leinster House. 'If it's a holiday during August or something, that's their own business. But certainly, why put yourself in danger? Why put other people in danger, because you are in a position of responsibility and you have to advise people of the dangers you're putting people in. I felt there was a danger and there was a danger for others. 'I think it was more done on the basis of publicity than maybe delivery. And delivery is for the people that is inside here, where democracy is held, where people are held to order, where we can speak our minds and he's well able to speak his mind [in the Dáil]. "It's his decision but it's a decision I'd question myself if it was within my party.' Cork TD Richard O'Donoghue said he hopes Mr Murphy is well and safe. 'You can protest, you can do all the same things of what he wanted to achieve, here. 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'But then, I asked to leave and was told that I couldn't leave and the whole time they had my passport. It became clear that I was being detained, as unfortunately hundreds of others have been detained in Egypt, many people deported.' He said his experience in Egypt 'pales into insignificance compared to what's happening in Gaza'. 'Just yesterday, 38 Palestinians were killed while queuing for aid. There's now over 300 Palestinians have been killed in those circumstances in the last three weeks,' he said. 'And the purpose of our global march to Gaza, which involved over 4,000 people coming here to Egypt from over 60 countries, was really to highlight the forced starvation that is happening and to call for a lifting of the blockade and allowing aid to flow.' Mr Murphy said he was held for around nine hours when he was detained for a second time and due to the slow nature of the process, it was unclear at first whether he was detained or not. It then became clear to him that he had been detained again because when he asked to leave the police station, he was told he was not allowed to. 'From our perspective, I mean we came here, the 4,000 people to try to march to Rafah in order to highlight what is happening in Gaza. 'Obviously, we're disappointed that we didn't get to Rafah, but we have had probably the largest international people-powered coalition for Palestine in a very, very long time. 'I think we did raise awareness about what is happening. And so, in the context of the severe Egyptian repression that is taking place, I'm conscious that look, there's still people in detention. There's still many, many people who won't be flying home.' While there will not be another attempt to enter Rafah, Mr Murphy said activists will now turn their attention to events like a planned meeting between European foreign ministers and the Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar in Brussels next week. 'For us, the main pressure we need to have is on Israel, to stop what it's doing in Gaza and on our own Government to stop their complicity. 'Obviously, many western governments and many of the people over there are coming from countries where the governments are actively arming and funding Israel.'
