Gaza Contact Group to hold talks with EU next week

ANKARA

The Contact Group, established by the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League, will travel to Brussels to hold talks with the European Union on the need for a permanent ceasefire in the Israeli-Hamas war and increasing humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians stranded in the enclave.

The announcement was made by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, a member of the Contact Group, late on May 23 at a joint press conference with visiting Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil.

“Our Contact Group of the OIC and the Arab League will have a meeting with the EU next week in Brussels next week,” Fidan told the reporters. The Contact Group was founded following Israel’s offensive against Gaza in October which claimed more than 35,000 lives so far, mostly children and women. It is in constant dialogue with prominent countries, including the permanent and temporary members of the U.N. Security Council and relevant international institutions.

The Contact Group’s scheduled trip to Brussels comes after two EU countries, Spain and Ireland as well as non-EU Norway have announced their decision to recognize Palestine as a state.

“The increasing number of countries, particularly in Europe, that recognize Palestine is growingly isolating Israel and its supporters,” Fidan stressed.

Recalling that a resolution for the recognition of Palestine at the U.N. Security Council is vetoed by the United States, Fidan vowed that even Washington will not be able to resist increasing pressure from the international community.

“What we want to see is the end of the Israeli massacres. The international community should no longer remain silent and take action to stop the genocide committed by Israel’s racist and fundamentalist regime as soon as possible,” he stated.

The foreign minister underlined that Türkiye’s diplomatic activities, humanitarian assistance and legal actions — either unilateral or with like-minded countries — will endure uninterruptedly. “This issue will never drop from our foreign policy agenda,” Fidan added.