At the press conference after Monday's meeting between the EU countries' foreign ministers and Israel's Gideon Saar, a clearly neutral and diplomatic tone was held.
All parties must respect the conditions of the ceasefire. Palestinians must be able to live in Gaza, but Gaza must never again become a terrorist stronghold, said EU Foreign Minister Kaja Kallas, and stated that the situation on the West Bank raises concern within the EU.
I heard concerns from some member states and I explained that whatever we do there, it's to protect ourselves, replied Saar.
Different View
The relationship is complicated. Even though the EU as a whole still strongly supports a two-state solution, there are significant differences between different member states' views on Israel and the conflict. The Czech Republic and Hungary are among the most Israel-friendly, while, for example, Spain and Ireland are among the critical.
Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Harris also chose a cautious line on Monday.
Most importantly today is that the fragile ceasefire holds, that humanitarian aid flows in and that (UN's Palestine organization) Unrwa can still be on site and function, said Harris on his way into the meeting.
Criticism from Outside
The most critical words were instead heard from the outside, with demands for EU condemnation of Israel from human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW).
"Not everything can be 'business as usual' with a government responsible for crimes against humanity, including apartheid and genocide," wrote HRW's deputy chief Claudio Francavilla in a press release.
