Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announced the failure of issuing a call for a ceasefire in Gaza during the European Union summit due to the lack of consensus among members.

This came in a statement to journalists today, Friday, at the conclusion of the two-day European Union leaders' summit in Brussels.

“My view, and the view of others, is that if we cannot reach a consensus on calling for a ceasefire (in Gaza), then there is no point in proposing some kind of temporary ceasefire or temporary pauses,” Varadkar said.

He added, "The position of the overwhelming majority of European Union countries is that there must be a ceasefire now" in Gaza.

It is noteworthy that the European Union leaders, who met in an extraordinary summit on October 17th, and an ordinary summit on the 26th and 27th of the same month, were unable to agree on calling for a ceasefire in Gaza for the third time.

Since last October 7, the Israeli army has been waging a devastating war on Gaza that, as of Thursday evening, left 18,787 dead and 50,897 injured, most of them children and women, massive destruction of infrastructure and an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” according to Palestinian and UN sources.