Doctors Without Borders slams EU's 'hypocrisy' over Gaza
18 Jul 2025 10:05am
This picture taken from a position at Israel's border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during an Israeli strike on the besieged Palestinian territory on July 17, 2025. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)
GENEVA - Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Thursday sharply criticised the EU for its continued failure to act decisively to stop what the organisation calls "orchestrated ethnic cleansing" in Gaza, accusing the bloc of complicity in the face of deliberate mass suffering.
According to Anadolu Ajansi (AA), in a post on X, the MSF said it had sent an open letter to EU leaders nearly a month earlier, on June 16, urging immediate action to stop the mass atrocities unfolding in the Palestinian enclave. Palestinians queue near their containers as they await a water distribution truck at a makeshift displacement tent camp which was hit in Israeli strikes a day earlier, at the UNRWA-run Abou Helou school for girls at the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on July 17, 2025. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
"The EU can and must act now to stop mass atrocities in Gaza," it wrote. "Yet, amid EU member states' inaction, orchestrated ethnic cleansing in Gaza continues."
According to MSF, more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the conflict, including 12 of its own staff members. The group said the most recent MSF staffer was killed on July 3 while attempting to retrieve a bag of flour.
"The human carnage and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza are deliberate. Humanitarian aid is weaponised and blocked. Healthcare services are targeted daily," the organisation stated.
MSF also condemned the EU Foreign Affairs Council's latest conclusions, adopted on Tuesday, calling them "yet another sign of the unwillingness to exert pressure on Israel to stop the genocide in Gaza."
"Once again, the EU demonstrated hypocrisy and shocking double standards when it comes to protecting civilians and ensuring the respect of international humanitarian law," it said.
Calling on the EU to "turn its words into actions and to end its double standards," MSF concluded by emphasising the legal and moral responsibilities of all states to stop the ongoing atrocities in Gaza.
"Every state has a moral and legal responsibility to recognise and stop the ongoing atrocities in Gaza," it wrote.
The letter was directed at top EU leadership, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
EU foreign ministers met on Monday and Tuesday to discuss growing concerns over Israel's attacks in Gaza, amid mounting civilian casualties and international calls for accountability.
However, member states were unable to reach a consensus, resulting in no formal decision to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement or impose sanctions. - BERNAMA-ANADOLU
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