These terms were agreed during direct talks over the weekend between Hamas and U.S. officials, during which “progress” was also reportedly made towards a wider end to the conflict.
Away from this realm of meaningful action, European leaders spent their weekend considering how to further distance themselves from Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration. After Hamas terrorists last week appealed for European support, France on Sunday backed calls for a review of the cooperation agreement between the European Union and Israel. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said
“This is a legitimate request, and I invite the European Commission to examine it.
The Netherlands is also pushing for an urgent review of the agreement.
A review is being pushed on the grounds of fears surrounding Israel’s blockade of aid to Gaza. But when Washington also announced a new system for providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians through private companies—their facilities secured by Israeli forces—to prevent Hamas from stealing it, officials still were not happy.
The United Nations said it would “not participate” in the scheme because it appears to “weaponise” aid.
A separate Brussels offer to help Israel distribute aid in Gaza has received far less media attention, possibly due to the unlikelihood of it taking place.
Edan Alexander, the hostage set to be released on Monday, is a 21-year-old American-Israeli. Netanyahu stressed that Israel “has not committed to a ceasefire of any kind or the release of terrorists but only to a safe corridor that will allow for the release of Edan.”
Donald Trump described the release as “momentous news” and said he was “grateful” to all those who had made it possible.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
