Left Bloc MEP Katarina Martins asked on behalf of the European left for a debate on Israel’s bombing of Gaza at the first plenary session of the European Parliament this Wednesday, but the discussion was rejected.
“A group of European left forces has demanded that the debate in parliament on the protection of humanitarian law and international law in the Gaza Strip be added as the first question of the afternoon,” European Assembly President Roberta Metsola said at the start of the second day of the plenary session in the French city of Strasbourg today.
Katarina Martins was to present a motion on behalf of the European left, arguing that Gaza was still experiencing “tens of thousands of deaths, especially of women and children, [em] hospitals and schools.”
“We are witnessing a genocide and the European Union has a special responsibility [porque] supports the association agreement with Israel, and weapons and European money are killing in the Gaza Strip, and the whole world is watching this,” he stressed.
The MEP therefore proposed “holding a debate on Gaza” which, if held at the start of the legislative session, “would give credibility to the European Parliament”.
However, the initiative was rejected by 251 votes against and 149 in favor, for a total of 416 votes.