Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
A statement made by the Belgian Development Minister, Caroline Gennes, sparked a diplomatic row with Israel, according to Het Latest News. The minister said in a press interview: "Entire villages are being erased from the map by the Israelis" in the occupied Palestinian territories. According to what was reported by the Belgian news agency yesterday evening.
"I was shocked yesterday when I read the defamatory accusations leveled by Caroline Gennes in her interview at De Morgen," Rosenzweig Abu-Edit, Israel's ambassador to Belgium, wrote on X on Wednesday.
The Belgian newspaper published an interview with Geniz about the new focus of Belgian humanitarian NGOs on "forgotten crises". "In the Occupied Palestinian Territories, for example, the situation has become unsustainable. The Israelis are wiping entire villages off the map," Jenez said.
"The periods of escalation of violence are shorter than before, but they are more frequent and more intense," Genise added. “As a result, the population no longer has room to catch their breath. More Palestinians have been injured and killed in violence since the beginning of this year than in all of 2022.”
These statements prompted the Israeli embassy in Belgium to send an "official letter of protest" to Geniz and the Belgian Foreign Ministry, Rosenzweig Abou-Edit wrote on X. "The Belgian ambassador to Israel was summoned to the Israeli Foreign Ministry and asked to: 'provide explanations.'"
Jenise told news website VRT NWS on Friday that she did not regret her statement. "Belgium supports a sustainable two-state solution in Israel and Palestine. When democracy and human rights are under pressure, anywhere in the world, we condemn it," she told Het Laatste Nieuws.
The Secretary explained her comments on X on Friday afternoon. “2023 is unfortunately the bloodiest year in a long time in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with 218 Palestinian deaths and 28 Israeli injuries. Among the Palestinian deaths are 34 children,” she wrote.
Geniz added that the "systematic destruction of infrastructure" in the Palestinian territories is driving entire communities out of their villages. "This infrastructure is often co-financed through international solidarity," she added. "I continue to condemn this matter out of respect for the efforts of the international community," Jenez said, adding that a "serious conversation" with Rosenzweig Abou-Edit is scheduled for September 7.