Representatives of European and Arab countries meet in Barcelona

BARCELONA

Delegations from European Union member states and Middle Eastern and north African countries are meeting yesterday in Barcelona, Spain, to discuss the crisis in Gaza, where a fragile pause in fighting is set to expire.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also attended in meeting.

Forty-two delegations gathered at the event hosted by the Union for the Mediterranean, with many represented by their foreign ministers. The meeting is chaired by the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.

Israel is not attending the meeting, which in past years has largely become a forum for cooperation between the EU and the Arab world. Monday’s gathering was supposed to focus on the role of the union 15 years after its founding, but it has taken on new significance since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s ensuing war in the Gaza Strip.

Borrell said he “regretted” the absence of Israel. He repeated his condemnation of the Hamas attack, while calling on Israel to permanently end its assault, which he said has claimed the lives of over 5,000 children.

“One horror cannot justify another horror,” Borrell said. “Peace between Israel and Palestine has become a strategic imperative for the entire Euro-Mediterranean community and beyond."

Borrell said he wants the focus of the gathering to be on how to manage the humanitarian crisis in Gaza once hostilities finally stop.

Jordan’s Safadi, who told The Associated Press on the eve of the event that he hopes the talks will help “bridge a gap” between Arab and European countries, urged the officials attending the meeting to back a two-state solution that would recognize a Palestinian state.

“My friends, Europe has a crucial role to play,” Safadi said. “The two-state solution cannot remain a talking point.”

A small pro-Palestinian group rallied before the gathering at the art nouveau building that once housed Barcelona's Sant Pau Hospital.