World

Israeli FM's artificial island pitch is 'irrelevant', Borrell says

Published

2 years ago

January 23, 2024

Israeli FM's artificial island pitch is 'irrelevant', Borrell says

Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz has sparked controversy after using a high-stakes meeting of EU foreign ministers to promote a plan to build an artificial island off the Gazan coast.

The EU ministerial meeting on Monday was intended to discuss the humanitarian crisis engulfing the Gaza Strip and the potential first steps towards a peaceful resolution to the long-term conflict between Israel and Palestine.

The bloc’s foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, who earlier in the day had described the gathering as “exceptional”, said Katz’s intervention during the meeting – where he pitched an artificial island in the Mediterranean Sea near the Gazan coast – was “irrelevant” to the discussions.

“I think that the minister could have used his time better to worry about the situation in his country, or the high death toll in Gaza,” Borrell told reporters following the meeting.

Katz, who was recently appointed Israel’s foreign minister, showed his European counterparts two videos during the meeting, Borrell said.

The first promoted a rail infrastructure project connecting Gaza with the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank. The second showed a proposal to build an artificial island in the Mediterranean Sea off the Gazan coast that would serve as a commercial hub linking the Gaza Strip with the rest of the world.

The infrastructure project dates back to Katz’s time as Israel’s transport minister and was first pitched in a 2017 video as “an answer to a reality that is bad for the Palestinians and not good for Israel,” according to Reuters.

But according to a diplomatic source who spoke on condition of anonymity, Katz’s decision to pitch the initiative during discussions centred around potential future peace negotiations had left EU ministers “perplexed.”

Katz did not suggest the island could be used to house Gazans, nor did he link the initiative to the so-called two-state solution, the diplomatic source added.

But Borrell said the videos had “little, if not no relevance, to the question under discussion.”

The gathering came just a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state as part of the so-called two-state solution after the war, which has been raging since the October 7 attack on Israel orchestrated by the Hamas militant group that controls the Gaza Strip.

The two-state solution – which would deliver statehood for the Palestinians – is the overarching goal desired by EU and Western allies after the war.

Borrell doubled down Monday on his own insistence that only the two-state solution can give Israelis and Palestinians the security guarantees they need. He also said that the EU and the wider international community had a “moral obligation” to find and propose a solution.

It comes after he made controversial comments on Friday claiming Netanyahu had been “personally boycotting” the two-state solution for the past three decades.

Foreign ministers representing the EU’s 27 member states, who have at times shown disunity in their response to the war between Israel and Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organisation by the bloc, were unanimous in their support for the two-state solution, Borrell said.

“The member states have all told him (Katz), of course, that they believe that the solution for a permanent and lasting peace that guarantees Israel’s security (…) comes about with the creation of a Palestinian state,” Borrell explained.

“This surely didn’t make him change his mind, but we didn’t expect anything to the contrary,” he added.

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World

Investors brace for a bigger backlash from Middle East war

Published

9 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Investors brace for a bigger backlash from Middle East war

From being just a fringe risk, conflict in the Middle East has become a top worry for investors unsettled by the prospect of a power struggle in Iran and a protracted regional war, with ramifications for everything from global trade to inflation.

World

Tel Aviv analyst shelters from 30 missile sirens in 48 hours, says Iran ‘won’t recover’

Published

10 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Tel Aviv analyst shelters from 30 missile sirens in 48 hours, says Iran ‘won’t recover’

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The past 48 hours in Tel Aviv have been unlike anything seen before, a leading security analyst has said, as sirens blared amid missile threats following Operation Epic Fury and U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran.

“We are facing a biblical event — nothing less,” Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute, told Fox News Digital, speaking from his shelter in the city.

Like many Israelis, Michael said he had spent hours in reinforced rooms during the ongoing barrage, adding that he was “very experienced in this.”

“But this all requires time and determination, and I do hope that Trump will also have them both,” he said, speaking shortly after the president released a video message stating that the military operation would continue “until all of our objectives are achieved.”

Explosions from projectile interceptions by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system over Tel Aviv. (JACK GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images)

“Trump is the only one who can make the change — and that change will impact the entire region and the international order for years to come,” Michael added.

As of Sunday, Tel Aviv remained under a state of emergency following Iranian missile attacks that caused casualties and widespread damage.

According to The Associated Press, Iranian missile and drone strikes have killed approximately 11 Israeli civilians and wounded dozens more in retaliation for the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran.

Shrapnel from missile impacts damaged at least 40 buildings in Tel Aviv, and authorities reported at least one death in the area from falling debris.

The Philippine Embassy in Israel confirmed the death of a Filipino national after a missile strike hit Tel Aviv on Saturday.

TOMAHAWKS, B-2 STEALTH BOMBERS AND ATTACK DRONES POUND OVER 1,000 IRANIAN TARGETS IN 24-HOUR BLITZ

People take shelter as Iran launched missiles and drones towards Israel following the US-Israeli attacks. ( Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“We enter our shelter once the siren is heard and stay there until the Home Front Command announces that we can leave,” Michael said.

“Usually, it is about 20 to 30 minutes — unless there are further sirens during our stay. Since yesterday morning, it has happened around 30 times.”

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog also visited an impact site in Tel Aviv Sunday, delivering a message of resilience.

“The people of Israel and the people of Iran can live in peace. The region can live in peace. But what undermines peace time and again is terror instigated by this Iranian regime,” Herzog said.

EXILED IRANIAN CROWN PRINCE SAYS US STRIKES MARK ‘BEGINNING OF THE VERY END’ FOR REGIME

Israeli emergency service officer walks past building debris at the scene of a Iranian missile attack. (Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP via Getty Images)

Following the reported killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and roughly 40 senior Iranian officials, Iran formed a provisional leadership council.

Iran named Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, President Masoud Pezeshkian and Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i to lead roles.

“The Supreme Leader did not complete the necessary groundwork regarding his own succession,” Michael added.

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“Pezeshkian will face very troubling challenges due to their heavy losses, severe disruptions to control and command systems, and the massive bombing and attacks across Iran, including Tehran,” he said.

“Even if this regime doesn’t collapse, it will never be able to reconstitute itself, recover or return to its previous position,” Michael added.

Emma Bussey is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Before joining Fox, she worked at The Telegraph with the U.S. overnight team, across desks including foreign, politics, news, sport and culture.

World

Israel FM says Europe too divided, slams Spanish PM

Published

11 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Israel FM says Europe too divided, slams Spanish PM

Israeli minister Gideon Sa’ar said Europe “does not have unified position” on what role it should play in Iran as European ministers sought to establish a joint approach Sunday.

As Israel and the United States conducted a joint military strike on Iran, leading to the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Europe was kept on the sidelines.

EU member states did not participate in the operation and, in some cases, they were not informed prior as it is customary among strategic allies.

Asked whether Israel sought to keep Europe on the margins, Sa’ar said internal divisions within EU member states had kept them out of critical exchanges of operational details, unlike the United States, which the minister described as his country’s greatest ally.

“In Europe, you have all kinds of approaches,” he told Euronews. “You have countries like the Czech Republic which is strongly supporting this operation and then you have Spain, which is standing with all the tyrants of the world.”

On Saturday, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez was among the most critical voices in Europe, suggesting the US-Israeli strikes on Iran risk plunging the region into total war.

“We reject the unilateral military action of the United States and Israel, which represents an escalation and contributes to a more uncertain and hostile international order,” Sánchez said Saturday. The Spanish PM reiterated that message on Sunday.

“We urge for de-escalation and call to respect international law in all conflicts,” Sánchez added. “You can be against a heinous regime, like the Iranian regime, while also rejecting a military intervention that is unjustified, dangerous and outside of international law.”

Sa’aar said Israel considers the operation “fully justified” citing the right to self-defense from a regime that “has called for the destruction of Israel” and lashed at the Spanish prime minister for sending an “anti-Israeli, anti-American message.”

“Read the statement, they are standing with Iran!” he added.

When asked if any of his European counterparts had manifested an interest in joining the military operation or provide support on the ground, Sa’ar said he held multiple exchanges with European ministers over the weekend and suggested that “if others want to join, they will know have to convey the message.”

On Sunday, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen appeared to back regime change in Iran in line with Israel and the US, saying that the “risk of further escalation is real. This is why a credible transition in Iran is urgently needed” in comments on Sunday.

Sa’ar told Euronews said the strategic strikes and the elimination of Khamenei alongside top regime commanders could “create the conditions to weaken the regime enough to allow the Iranians to take their future into their own hands”.

“The future leadership of Iran should be determined by the Iranian people through free elections. Our only requirement is that whoever comes to power in Iran must not pursue the destruction of Israel,” he said.

Watch the full interview on Euronews from 8pm CET