'Abhorrent': EU's von der Leyen slams Israeli offensive in Gaza
Top international officials stepped up their criticism of Israel's expanded military operation in Gaza on Tuesday, as casualties mount from the intensified attacks on the largely destroyed Palestinian territory.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the escalation "cannot be justified" under international law, while the UN's top human rights official said the attacks on the Gaza Strip violated "fundamental principles of humanity."
Von der Leyen said that "the European Commission has always supported – and will continue to support – Israel's right to security and self-defence, but this escalation and disproportionate use of force against civilians cannot be justified under humanitarian and international law."
"The expansion of Israel's military operations in Gaza targeting civilian infrastructure, among them a school that served as a shelter for displaced Palestinian families, killing civilians, including children, is abhorrent," she said, after a call with King Abdullah II of Jordan.
The European Union calls on Israel "to put an immediate halt on the current escalation," she said, and on the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to release the remaining hostages.
Von der Leyen also urged Israel to lift its blockade of Gaza.
"Israel needs to immediately restore aid delivery in line with humanitarian principles, with the participation of the UN and other international humanitarian partners," she said.
"Europe's commitment to a just, comprehensive and lasting peace based on a two-state solution remains unwavering."
Israel not respecting 'principles of humanity'
UN human rights chief Volker Türk said that Israel's military actions in the Gaza Strip are no longer covered by the principle of self-defence under international law.
Israel says that it is determined to completely remove the threat posed by Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist group by the EU and the United States.
The army recently said it was pursuing its war against Hamas by expanding the war zone and calling on the residents of most places in the southern Gaza Strip to leave the region.
We are talking about "an expulsion that is highly, highly questionable," Türk said on Austrian radio, referring to the effect of the war on the civilian population.
"What we have witnessed in recent months has nothing to do with respect for the fundamental principles of humanity," said Türk, who holds the title of UN high commissioner for human rights. "You can't really find any more words to describe what is happening."
The war in Gaza has claimed more than 53,000 Palestinian lives, according to the Hamas-run authorities in Gaza.
It was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel's history, carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other groups on October 7, 2023. About 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.
Fears for displaced Gazans
According to international aid organizations, almost 180,000 Gazans have been displaced over 10 days from May 15-25 as a result of the expanded Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
This figure was published by the International Organization for Migration (IoM) in Geneva as part of the Global Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster platform, which coordinates aid for internally displaced persons worldwide.
The platform said it "unequivocally condemns attacks on displacement sites."
"Direct attacks on sites have become common," the statement said.
Since the end of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in March, a total of around 616,000 people have been internally displaced in the Gaza Strip, according to the group.
About 80% of the coastal area is closed off or under evacuation orders, it said.
Palestinian media reports and health authorities in Gaza indicate a rapidly mounting death toll from the Israeli attacks.
In the most recent incidents, at least 19 people were killed in an Israeli attack in northern Gaza, local media reported on Monday. At least 38 people were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip within one day, the territory's Hamas-run health ministry said on Sunday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
James Carville addresses his comments on Jewish campaign donors
(NewsNation) — James Carville is taking heat for suggesting some Jewish campaign donors are turning their backs on Democrats — ostensibly because they fault the party for what they consider to be antisemitic protests at Columbia University but really because they're embracing President Trump's tax policy. On a recent episode of his podcast, Carville said many Jewish people see through that argument, while others 'just want your (expletive) tax cut.' Among critics who criticized Carville was U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., who said on social media: 'I don't care whose campaign you ran thirty years ago, that's unacceptable.' ICE arrests Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia protests The Democratic strategist joined 'CUOMO' on Friday in an attempt to explain himself. He noted that student protesters at Columbia were chanting for the ouster of then-President Joe Biden for his support of Israel during its escalating war with Hamas in Gaza. 'Students at Columbia were chanting, 'Hey, hey, ho, ho, 'Genocide Joe' must go,'' Carville said of claims that Democrats enabled anti-Israel protests. 'You might have many reasons to not want to vote for a Democrat, but the Columbia students is just not a valid reason. I do not believe you.' Carville said Democratic presidents have long supported Israel. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Who is leading the criminal mobs in Gaza that are armed by Israel?
Yasser Abu Shabab's Popular Force militia might get Israeli support as the fight for Gaza intensifies Yasser Abu Shabab has been named as the leader of a Palestinian militia in Gaza that Israeli officials have reportedly armed to attempt to undermine Hamas, the New York Times reported on Friday. Abu Shabab, a Bedouin man in his 30s, leads the Popular Forces, a crime group in Gaza that is significantly smaller than Hamas. On Thursday, Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman claimed on Kan Reshet Bet that Israel is arming crime families and militias in Gaza to fight Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office did not deny Liberman's claim, and defended his decision. 'What's bad about it?' he said, as reported by the New York Times. 'It's only good and it only saves the lives of Israel Defense Force soldiers.' A Thursday press release from the Prime Minister's Office stated: 'Israel is working to defeat Hamas through various means, as recommended by all heads of the security establishment.' A video posted on Wednesday showed Abu Shabab telling the people of Rafah to return home, and said that food, medicine, and shelter would be provided. He then said he and his forces were working under 'Palestinian legitimacy,' a phrase that the report noted the Palestinian Authority often uses. However, analysts interviewed by the New York Times claim that the government is arming groups like the Popular Forces in order to avoid a long-term occupation of Gaza or a Palestinian Authority-led government ruling the enclave. 'If you think about who really can be an alternative to Hamas in Gaza, you have two options: either an Israeli military administration or the Palestinian Authority,' said retired Brig. Gen. Shlomo Brom, a former top Israeli military strategist. Brom told the New York Times that given the choices, the Israeli government was looking for 'other solutions.' Abu Shabab has been accused several times of looting aid trucks in the Gaza Strip by aid truck drivers and international humanitarian officials. Senior UN official Georgios Petropoulos once called him 'the self-styled power broker of east Rafah,' according to the report. In an interview quoted in the report, Abu Shabab said that he did not raid the trucks, and instead asserted that he was feeding his community. 'We are taking trucks so we can eat, not so we can sell,' he said, accusing Hamas of stealing aid. The Popular Forces also said that it had safeguarded aid trucks entering the enclave. 'We confirm that 92 trucks were secured and entered areas under the protection of our popular forces, and exited safely under our supervision,' a post from the criminal grou reads. Liberman originally claimed that the Palestinian groups were affiliated with ISIS. The New York Times report did not mention these claims. The Yisrael Beytenu leader also said that the matter did not pass cabinet approval, and said that he did not know if the IDF was aware of the operation. 'In my opinion, this did not pass cabinet approval,' he said. 'This was with the knowledge of the head of the Shin Bet [Israel Security Agency], but I don't know how much the [IDF] chief of staff was privy to the matter. Amichai Stein contributed to this report.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump administration orders US embassies to stop student visa interviews
The Trump administration has ordered US embassies worldwide to immediately stop scheduling visa interviews for foreign students as it prepares to implement comprehensive social media screening for all international applicants. A Tuesday state department cable obtained by the Guardian instructs consular sections to pause adding 'any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued' within days. The directive, first reported by Politico , could severely delay visa processing and hurt universities – many of which Donald Trump accuses of having far-left ideologies – that rely heavily on foreign students for revenue. 'The department is conducting a review of existing operations and processes for screening and vetting of student and exchange visitor visa applicants,' the cable reads. Officials plan to issue guidance on 'expanded social media vetting for all such applicants'. The freeze is a further escalation from current screening measures, which have primarily targeted students who participated in pro-Palestinian campus protests. Since March, consular officers have been required to conduct mandatory social media reviews looking for evidence of support for 'terrorist activity or a terrorist organization' which could be as broad as showing support for the Palestinian cause, according to a cable obtained by the Guardian at the time. That directive required officers to take screenshots of 'potentially derogatory' content for permanent records, even if posts were later deleted. The new expansion would apply social media vetting to all student visa applicants, not just those flagged for activism. Under the screening process, consular officers would examine applicants' posts, shares, and comments across platforms such as Instagram, X and TikTok for content they deem to be threatening to national security, which has since been tied in to the Trump administration's stance on combating antisemitism. Rubio told senators last week that his department has revoked visas numbering 'probably in the thousands at this point', up from more than 300 reported in March. 'I don't know the latest count, but we probably have more to do,' he said. There are more than one million foreign students in the US, contributing nearly $43.8bn to the economy and supporting more than 378,000 jobs in 2023 to 2024, according to NAFSA. The visa freeze threatens to compound existing challenges facing higher education institutions already experiencing declining international enrollment. When reached for comment, a state department spokesperson said that 'every visa adjudication is a national security decision', noting that visitors applying for visas were required to provide social media identifiers since 2019. 'The Trump administration is focused on protecting our nation and our citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process,' the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
