EU foreign chief says Israel must respect UN court, control settler violence in the West Bank

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's foreign policy chief insisted Sunday that Israel must abide by the U.N. top court's rulings and end its offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah and, at the same time, questioned the possible involvement of authorities in the settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

On a day that visiting Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa basked in the attention after two EU nations and Norway pledged to recognize a Palestinian state, Josep Borrell further pressured Israel to take immediate actions to make sure that tax income meant for the Palestinian authorities is no longer stopped.

The demands came at the end of the week that saw the international community put increasing pressure on Israel to fundamentally change the course of the war it wages on Hamas in the Gaza Strip through international court action and diplomatic maneuvering.

Borrell insisted Israel had driven the Palestinians to the edge of a catastrophe because “the situation in Gaza is beyond words. The occupied West Bank is on the brink, risking an explosion any time.”

While most of the global attention is centered on Gaza, Borrell said that “we should not forget what’s happening in the West Bank,” where the seat of the Palestinian Authority is based.

“There we see an intensified spiral of violence. Indiscriminate and punishing attacks by extremist settlers, more and more targeting humanitarian aid heading to Gaza. And they are heavily armed. And the question is, who is arming them? And who is not preventing this attack from happening,” Borrell said.

Rights groups and Palestinian residents have said that Israeli forces often provide an umbrella of security to armed settlers attacking Palestinian towns and nomadic communities.

Such settler violence, Borrell said, "is coupled with unprecedented Israeli settlement expansions and land grabbing.”

Borrell also countered Israeli threats to hit the Palestinians financially. On Wednesday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he would stop transferring tax revenue earmarked for the Palestinian Authority, a move that threatens to handicap its already waning ability to pay salaries to thousands of employees.

Under interim peace accords in the 1990s, Israel collects tax revenue on behalf of the Palestinians, and it has used the money as a tool to pressure the PA. After the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that triggered the war in Gaza, Smotrich froze the transfers, but Israel agreed to send the money to Norway, which transferred it to the PA. Smotrich said Wednesday that he was ending that arrangement.

“Unduly withheld revenues have to be released,” said Borrell, with Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide standing next to him.

Eide was in Brussels Sunday to hand over diplomatic papers to Mustafa ahead of Norway's formal recognition of a Palestinian state, a largely symbolic move that has infuriated Israel.

The formal recognition by Norway as well as Spain and Ireland — which all have a record of friendly ties with both the Israelis and the Palestinians, while long advocating for a Palestinian state — is planned for Tuesday.

The diplomatic move by the three nations was a welcome boost of support for Palestinian officials who have sought for decades to establish a statehood in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip — territories Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war and still controls.

“Recognition means a lot for us. It is the most important thing that anybody can do for the Palestinian people," said Mustafa. "It is a great deal for us.”

Some 140 countries — more than two-thirds of the United Nations — recognize a Palestinian state but a majority of the 27 EU nations still do not. Several have said they would recognize it when the conditions are right.

The EU, the United States and Britain, among others, back the idea of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel but say it should come as part of a negotiated settlement.

Belgium, which holds the EU presidency, has said that first the Israeli hostages held by Hamas need to be freed and the fighting in Gaza must end. Some other governments favor a new initiative toward a two-state solution, 15 years after negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed.

Sunday's handover of papers came only two days after the United Nations’ top court ordered Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah in the latest move that piled more pressure on the increasingly isolated country.

Days earlier, the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court requested arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with Hamas officials.

The war in Gaza started after Hamas-led militants stormed across the border, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostage. Israel’s ensuing offensive has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and has caused a humanitarian crisis and a near-famine.

Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Mohammed Mustafa, left, speaks after receiving a document handed over by Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, right, prior to a meeting for talks on the Middle East in Brussels, Sunday, May 26, 2024. Norway on Sunday handed over papers to the Palestinian prime minister to officially give it diplomatic recognition as a state in a largely symbolic move that has infuriated Israel. The formal recognition by Norway, Spain and Ireland, which all have a record of friendly ties with both the Israelis and the Palestinians, while long advocating for a Palestinian state, is planned for Tuesday. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, right, speaks with Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Mohammed Mustafa after handing over a document prior to a meeting for talks on the Middle East in Brussels, Sunday, May 26, 2024. Norway on Sunday handed over papers to the Palestinian prime minister to officially give it diplomatic recognition as a state in a largely symbolic move that has infuriated Israel. The formal recognition by Norway, Spain and Ireland, which all have a record of friendly ties with both the Israelis and the Palestinians, while long advocating for a Palestinian state, is planned for Tuesday. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Mohammed Mustafa, left, shakes hands with Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide prior to a meeting for talks on the Middle East in Brussels, Sunday, May 26, 2024. Norway on Sunday handed over papers to the Palestinian prime minister to officially give it diplomatic recognition as a state in a largely symbolic move that has infuriated Israel. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Mohammed Mustafa, left, reaches out to shake hands with Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide prior to a meeting for talks on the Middle East in Brussels, Sunday, May 26, 2024. Norway on Sunday handed over papers to the Palestinian prime minister to officially give it diplomatic recognition as a state in a largely symbolic move that has infuriated Israel. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Mohammed Mustafa, left, speaks with the media after the handover of a document by Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide prior to a meeting for talks on the Middle East in Brussels, Sunday, May 26, 2024. Norway on Sunday handed over papers to the Palestinian prime minister to officially give it diplomatic recognition as a state in a largely symbolic move that has infuriated Israel. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Mohammed Mustafa, second left, and Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, second right, meet after the handover of a document prior to a meeting for talks on the Middle East in Brussels, Sunday, May 26, 2024. Norway on Sunday handed over papers to the Palestinian prime minister to officially give it diplomatic recognition as a state in a largely symbolic move that has infuriated Israel. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide shows a document which will be handed to Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Mohammed Mustafa prior to a meeting for talks on the Middle East in Brussels, Sunday, May 26, 2024. Norway on Sunday handed over papers to the Palestinian prime minister to officially give it diplomatic recognition as a state in a largely symbolic move that has infuriated Israel. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide shows a document which will be handed to Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Mohammed Mustafa prior to a meeting for talks on the Middle East in Brussels, Sunday, May 26, 2024. Norway on Sunday handed over papers to the Palestinian prime minister to officially give it diplomatic recognition as a state in a largely symbolic move that has infuriated Israel. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, right, prepares to hand a document to Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Mohammed Mustafa prior to a meeting for talks on the Middle East in Brussels, Sunday, May 26, 2024. Norway on Sunday handed over papers to the Palestinian prime minister to officially give it diplomatic recognition as a state in a largely symbolic move that has infuriated Israel. The formal recognition by Norway, Spain and Ireland, which all have a record of friendly ties with both the Israelis and the Palestinians, while long advocating for a Palestinian state, is planned for Tuesday. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Mohammed Mustafa, left, speaks after receiving a document handed over by Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, right, prior to a meeting for talks on the Middle East in Brussels, Sunday, May 26, 2024. Norway on Sunday handed over papers to the Palestinian prime minister to officially give it diplomatic recognition as a state in a largely symbolic move that has infuriated Israel. The formal recognition by Norway, Spain and Ireland, which all have a record of friendly ties with both the Israelis and the Palestinians, while long advocating for a Palestinian state, is planned for Tuesday. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

MINA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Muslim pilgrims used the early morning hours Monday to perform the second day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, as noontime summer heat caused heatstroke among thousands wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage.

The final days of the Hajj coincide with Muslims around the world celebrating the Eid al-Adha holiday.

The stoning of the pillars representing the devil takes place in Mina, a desert plain just outside the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. A third stoning is scheduled Tuesday, before the Farewell Tawaf, or circling the cube-shaped Kaaba in Mecca.

The Hajj pilgrimage is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. All Muslims are required to make the five-day Hajj at least once in their lives if they are physically and financially able to do so.

More than 1.83 million Muslims performed Hajj in 2024, slightly less than last year’s figure of 1.84 million, according to Saudi officials.

The Hajj rites largely commemorate the Quran’s accounts of Prophet Ibrahim, his son Prophet Ismail and Ismail’s mother Hajar — or Abraham and Ismael as they are named in the Bible.

The rites have taken place under the soaring summer heat, which is expected to reach 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) in Mecca and the sacred sites in and around the city, according to the Saudi National Center for Metrology.

“Of course, it is something very hard and tiring. The temperature is abnormal compared to the past years and this affects us a lot,” said Ahmed Al-Baradie, an Egyptian pilgrim, after finishing his second symbolic stoning.

More than 2,760 pilgrims suffered from sunstroke and heat stress on Sunday alone at the start of the first round of stoning, according to the Health Ministry. Jordan announced Sunday that 14 Jordanian pilgrims had died from heatstroke.

The number of pilgrims on the roads leading to the pillars Monday morning decreased significantly compared to Sunday.

Carrying an umbrella against the burning sun, Pakistani pilgrim Khoda Bakhch visited the stoning site on Monday morning and planned to return at sunset. “After two or three hours, it (temperature) may be too much," he said.

Security forces, medics and first responders have been deployed in and around Mina, especially on roads and open areas to direct and help pilgrims.

“I am really impressed by the preparations,” Sani Abdullah, a Nigerian, told The Associated Press, adding that he was used to such burning heat in his country. “I have never encountered any problems. Everything is going smoothly.”

Mina is where Muslims believe Ibrahim’s faith was tested when God commanded him to sacrifice his only son Ismail. Ibrahim was prepared to submit to the command, but then God stayed his hand, sparing his son. In the Christian and Jewish versions of the story, Abraham is ordered to kill his other son, Isaac.

The stoning began Sunday, a day after the pilgrims visited the sacred Mount Arafat where they spent their day in worship and reflection. The ritual in Mount Arafat, known as the hill of mercy, is considered the peak of the Hajj pilgrimage.

The pilgrims collected the pebbles, which they have used in the symbolic stoning of pillars, from Muzdalifa, an area located a few kilometers (miles) away from Mount Arafat.

The Hajj is one of the largest religious gatherings on earth. The rituals officially started Friday when the pilgrims moved from Mecca’s Grand Mosque to Mina, then to Mount Arafat. They then return to Mina, where they spend up to three days, each casting seven pebbles at three pillars in a ritual to symbolize the casting away of evil and sin.

While in Mina, the pilgrims visit Mecca to perform a “tawaf,” or circumambulation, which is circling the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque counterclockwise seven times. Then another circumambulation, the Farewell Tawaf, will mark the end of the Hajj as pilgrims prepare to leave the holy city.

Once the Hajj is over, men are expected to shave their heads, and women to snip a lock of hair in a sign of renewal.

Most of the pilgrims then leave Mecca for the city of Medina, about 340 kilometers (210 miles) away, to pray in Prophet Muhammad’s tomb, the Sacred Chamber. The tomb is part of the prophet’s mosque, which is one of the three holiest sites in Islam, along with the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

This year’s Hajj came against the backdrop of the devastating Israel-Hamas war, which pushed the Middle East to the brink of a regional conflict.

The war has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians in the besieged strip, according to Gaza health officials, while hundreds of others have been killed in Israeli operations in the West Bank. It began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostage.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip weren’t able to travel to Mecca for the Hajj this year because of the closure of the Rafah crossing in May, when Israel extended its ground offensive to the city on the border with Egypt.

Muslim pilgrims cast stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, June 16, 2024. Masses of pilgrims on Sunday embarked on a symbolic stoning of the devil in Saudi Arabia. The ritual marks the final days of the Hajj, or Islamic pilgrimage, and the start of the Eid al-Adha celebrations for Muslims around the world. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Paramedics carry a muslim pilgrim for a medical check after he fell down due to a heat stroke at pillars, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, June 16, 2024. Masses of pilgrims on Sunday embarked on a symbolic stoning of the devil in Saudi Arabia. The ritual marks the final days of the Hajj, or Islamic pilgrimage, and the start of the Eid al-Adha celebrations for Muslims around the world. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

A pilgrim prepares to cast stones at a pillar in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual Hajj pilgrimage, in Mina near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, June 16, 2024. Masses of pilgrims on Sunday embarked on a symbolic stoning of the devil in Saudi Arabia. The ritual marks the final days of the Hajj, or Islamic pilgrimage, and the start of the Eid al-Adha celebrations for Muslims around the world. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Muslim pilgrims arrive to cast stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, June 16, 2024. The ritual marks the final days of the Hajj, or Islamic pilgrimage, and the start of the Eid al-Adha celebrations for Muslims around the world. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Muslim pilgrims arrive to cast stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, June 16, 2024. The ritual marks the final days of the Hajj, or Islamic pilgrimage, and the start of the Eid al-Adha celebrations for Muslims around the world. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Muslim pilgrims arrive to cast stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, June 16, 2024. Masses of pilgrims on Sunday embarked on a symbolic stoning of the devil in Saudi Arabia. The ritual marks the final days of the Hajj, or Islamic pilgrimage, and the start of the Eid al-Adha celebrations for Muslims around the world. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Muslim pilgrims cast stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, June 16, 2024. Masses of pilgrims on Sunday embarked on a symbolic stoning of the devil in Saudi Arabia. The ritual marks the final days of the Hajj, or Islamic pilgrimage, and the start of the Eid al-Adha celebrations for Muslims around the world. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Paramedics carry a muslim pilgrim for a medical check after he fell down due to a heat stroke at pillars, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, June 16, 2024. Masses of pilgrims on Sunday embarked on a symbolic stoning of the devil in Saudi Arabia. The ritual marks the final days of the Hajj, or Islamic pilgrimage, and the start of the Eid al-Adha celebrations for Muslims around the world. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Muslim pilgrims cast stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, June 16, 2024. Masses of pilgrims on Sunday embarked on a symbolic stoning of the devil in Saudi Arabia. The ritual marks the final days of the Hajj, or Islamic pilgrimage, and the start of the Eid al-Adha celebrations for Muslims around the world. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Muslim pilgrims cast stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, June 16, 2024. Masses of pilgrims on Sunday embarked on a symbolic stoning of the devil in Saudi Arabia. The ritual marks the final days of the Hajj, or Islamic pilgrimage, and the start of the Eid al-Adha celebrations for Muslims around the world. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)