European Union leaders are holding an emergency meeting - today, Tuesday, via video technology - in an attempt to send a coherent message regarding the ongoing confrontations between the Israeli army and Palestinian resistance factions, which are entering their 11th day.

Agence France-Presse quoted a European official as saying, “We felt the need to put things in order,” after a week of debate at the Union’s headquarters in Brussels.

European Council President Charles Michel called for the virtual summit at 17:30 local time (15:30 GMT).

In the days that followed the unprecedented military operation "Al-Aqsa Flood" launched by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the Palestinian resistance factions, the European Commission created an atmosphere of confusion regarding the assistance to the Palestinians, which the European Union is the main provider of.

Hungarian Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi announced the suspension of payments, sparking protests in some capitals, before the European executive corrected the situation by announcing an “emergency review” of development aid was underway, indicating that humanitarian aid was not concerned.

On Saturday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that this humanitarian aid would be tripled to reach 75 million euros ($79.11 million).

Message and resentment

But during the previous day, the message - which von der Leyen sent during a visit to Israel - caused resentment from member states and the European Parliament.

Von der Leyen had defended - in front of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - Israel's right to self-defense, without mentioning that this response must comply with humanitarian and international law, which was stressed by European Union Foreign Minister Josep Borrell at the conclusion of a ministers' meeting. External.

French European Representative Nathalie Loiseau said on Saturday, "I do not understand what the Commission President has to do with the European Union's foreign policy, which she is not responsible for."

For his part, Commission spokesman Eric Mamer defended von der Leyen's right to "travel wherever she wants," saying, "I do not remember anyone criticizing the president when she went to Ukraine after the start of the war."

This controversy led to the call for an emergency European summit via video.

A diplomat said, "We must try to get things back on track so that the talks focus on the situation, and not on the way the European Union is talking," while acknowledging that there was a "problem."

Comment and messages

For his part, Vittorio Infante from the non-governmental organization Oxfam, which was forced to suspend its work in Gaza following Israel’s call on residents to evacuate their homes, said, “This is not the time for contradictory messages. What we need is decisive moral leadership focused on peace. And with every minute that passes, civilians are paying a price.” “Expensive.”

It is noteworthy that a joint declaration was adopted on Sunday to determine the position of the 27 countries before the meeting, which “strongly insist on Israel’s right to self-defense under humanitarian and international law in the face of violent and indiscriminate attacks” launched by Hamas.

They also stressed the importance of providing emergency humanitarian assistance, and expressed their "readiness" to continue supporting civilians who are in dire need of it in Gaza, while ensuring that this assistance is not subject to misuse by what they described as terrorist organizations.