VILNIUS – Dialogue between the European Union (EU) delegation and Israel on the humanitarian situation in the war-torn Gaza Strip is beginning in Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said while visiting Lithuania on Tuesday.
He made the announcement after a meeting with his Lithuanian counterpart Kestutis Budrys in Vilnius.
The Israeli minister described the dialogue as “an effort not only to exchange views but maybe to see how we can work together to improve the situation”.
“I engaged with EU High Representative Kaja Kallas to begin this dialogue that we will begin today in Jerusalem between the EU and Israel on the matter,” he said adding that this issue had also been discussed in previous phone conversations with Budrys.
Saar's visit to Lithuania comes amid tensions in the Middle East as the Jewish state continues its attacks in the Gaza Strip following a ceasefire agreed between Israel and Iran earlier this month, ending 12 days of fighting between the two countries.
Following the European Union's decision to review its cooperation agreement with Israel over alleged human rights violations in the Gaza Strip, Budrys said last week that the timing was not right for such actions.
Brussels took the steps after the majority of EU foreign ministers backed the move at their meeting in a bid to put pressure on Israel. Lithuania, for its part, opposed this initiative.
On the other hand, Lithuania's top diplomat acknowledged that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip cannot be ignored.
Israel, for its part, accuses the Palestinian militant group Hamas of appropriating aid intended for the population.
“Our aim is to defeat Hamas. We don’t want Hamas to use the humanitarian aid as an economic asset to empower its war machine, but we want it directly to go to the people of Gaza,“ Saar said while visiting the Foreign Ministry in Vilnius.
With Israel continuing to pound the Palestinian enclave, US President Donald Trump has begun stepping up his push on the Israeli government to broker a ceasefire and hostage agreement and bring about an end to the war in Gaza.
Talks between Israel and Hamas have repeatedly faltered over a major sticking point — whether the war should end as part of any ceasefire agreement.
The last meeting between the Lithuanian and Israeli foreign ministers took place in March 2023 in Israel.
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