EU’s Borrell warns of deteriorating situation on Oct 7 anniversary

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday the Middle East stood on the "verge of a complete conflagration", on the first anniversary of the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.

"One year after the terrible attack against Israel, the situation is only getting worse. The people in the region are more insecure than ever and are caught in an unending cycle of violence, hatred, and revenge," Borrell said in a statement.

"The whole Middle East is on the verge of a complete conflagration that the international community looks unable to control."

The anniversary comes with Israel still fighting Hamas in Gaza and engaged in a new war to the north in Lebanon against Hamas ally Hezbollah.

It is also preparing to retaliate against Iran over its missile attack last week, raising fears of all-out regional war.

Borrell reiterated the EU's call for an "immediate ceasefire on all fronts" and said it was the only way to achieve the release of Israelis taken hostage on October 7.

"The horrifying terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas and other terrorists on 7 October 2023 have had an impact in the region, the European Union, and the entire world," he said.

"The past year has also seen the horrible suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza and later in the West Bank too."

The Hamas attack on October 7 resulted in the death of 1,205 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures, which includes hostages killed in captivity.

Out of 251 people taken hostage that day, 97 are still being held inside the Gaza Strip, including 34 who the Israeli military says are dead.

More than 41,909 Palestinians, a majority of them civilians, have been killed in Israel's military campaign in the Gaza Strip since the war began, according to data provided by the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. The UN has acknowledged these figures as reliable.

"The time for the ceasefire is now, precisely one year after the terrorist attacks. Tomorrow might be too late," Borrell said.

"The October 7 anniversary only reinforces the EU efforts on the need to achieve that regional ceasefire."

The 27-nation EU has been divided over its response to the war in Gaza and has struggled to exert influence in the region to calm the fighting.