At the opening of a meeting of the "Union for the Mediterranean" forum in Barcelona, Borrell stressed that this truce, which he described as an "important first step", "must be extended" and transformed into a "permanent" truce to allow work on a political solution.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called on Monday for extending the truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which entered its fourth day on Monday, in order to work on a "political solution" to the conflict.

Borrell stressed at the opening of a meeting of the "Union for the Mediterranean" forum in Barcelona that this truce, which he described as an "important first step", "must be extended" and transformed into a "permanent" truce to allow work on a political solution.

He explained that Israel had exceeded the limit of self-defense, and should not think about reoccupying Gaza, saying: “We will face waves of extremism and unprecedented violence if the war in Gaza is not stopped.”

"Nothing can justify what Hamas did against civilians on October 7. But one atrocity cannot justify another atrocity," he said, referring to the Israeli army's reprisals and "the suffering of civilians in Gaza."

He added, "A political solution will enable us to break the cycle of violence once and for all," noting that "there will be no peace or security for Israel without a Palestinian state."

The European Union foreign policy official continued, "Hamas is not just a group of individuals, but rather an idea and ideology that cannot be killed."

As the truce between Israel and Hamas enters its fourth day, diplomatic efforts continue to extend it.

In this context, Hamas said in a statement at dawn on Monday that it seeks to "extend the truce after the end of the four-day period" with the aim of "increasing the number of prisoners released."

For his part, US President Joe Biden expressed his hope that the temporary truce would continue as long as the prisoners were released.

On Sunday, Hamas released 13 Israelis it had been holding since its unprecedented attack on Israel, in addition to 4 other detainees from outside the agreement, while Israel released 39 Palestinian detainees from its prisons.

Source: arab48