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September 5, 2025, 12:49 AM

EU Commission:"Vice President Ribera's position on genocide is not ours."

“No,” when Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera spoke of genocide in Gaza, she was not speaking on behalf of the Commission. “That is not the Commission’s position.” This was stated by Paula Pinho, chief spokesperson for the EU executive, in her daily press briefing. “It is not for the Commission to judge this issue and definition, but actually for the courts, and there has been no decision by the College on this specific matter. That’s what I can say. And more generally, on the definition of genocide and who decides on it, and where you might want to delve deeper,” she emphasized. “Determining whether international crimes, including genocide, have been committed is a matter for national courts as well as international courts, and you know which ones may have jurisdiction, and the legal qualification of such an act requires an appropriate determination,” explained spokesperson Anouar El Anouni.

• The Israeli army announced that it struck the Mustaha Tower in Gaza City, a skyscraper it claimed was being used by Hamas, after Israel declared it was preparing to conquer the city."Inside the building, Hamas installed infrastructure used to prepare and conduct attacks against IDF troops in the area," the army statement read."Before the attack, precautionary measures were taken to limit harm to civilians," it added. Shortly before, the IDF had announced that skyscrapers in Gaza City would be targeted"in the coming days."
"No," when Executive Vice President
• Teresa Ribera spoke of genocide in Gaza, she was not speaking on behalf of the Commission;"that is not the position of the Commission." This was stated by the EU executive's chief spokesperson Paula Pinho in her daily press briefing."It's not up to the Commission to judge this issue and definition, but actually up to the courts, and there has been no decision by the Commission on this specific matter. That's what I can say. And more generally, on the definition of genocide and who decides on it, and where you might want to go further," she emphasizes."Determining whether international crimes, including genocide, have been committed is the responsibility of national courts as well as international courts, and you know which ones may have jurisdiction and the legal characterization of such an act requires an appropriate determination," explains spokesman Anouar El Anouni. "The gates of hell have opened in Gaza. The first evacuation warning is being given to a terrorist building in Gaza City before an attack. Once the gates open, they will never close again, and IDF activity will increase until the murderers and rapists of Hamas accept the conditions set by Israel for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and disarmament, otherwise they will be destroyed." Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote this on X.The Israel Defense Forces announced the killing – which occurred a few days ago – of Nur al-Din Dabbaghsh
, a Hamas agent who managed the finances of the group's armed wing. Dabbaghsh was accused of raising and transferring tens of millions of dollars to Hamas during the war, money that, according to Israel, financed weapons and operations, and helped sustain the organization's fighting capabilities. The Times of Israel reports.
• Vladimir Putin says he is "ready" for "contacts" with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
but does not see "much sense" in them, arguing that it would be, in his opinion,"practically impossible to reach an agreement with the Ukrainian side on key issues." This is what Tass reports."Even if there were political will, which I doubt, there would be legal and technical difficulties," Putin declared. The risk of ethnic cleansing is significantly increasing throughout the West Bank, as Palestinians continue to suffer mass displacement by Israeli forces and settlers. This is the alarm raised by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which is witnessing a normalization of the suffering caused by the Israeli occupation, unlike anything seen in its 36 years of providing medical and psychological assistance in Palestine. MSF urges third states, particularly those with close political, military, or economic ties to Israel—including the United States and European Union member states—to press for an end to the violent practices and forced displacement against Palestinians and to secure an end to the occupation, which is illegal under international law.
• At least 18 Palestinians
, including seven children, were killed last night in Israeli airstrikes targeting homes and tents housing displaced people in Gaza City, according to medical sources reported by the Palestinian news agency
• Wafa. The Israeli army (IDF) fears that in the operation in Gaza City, Hamas will try to hide hostages among the displaced
. This is what a military source revealed to Ynet."It is difficult to predict how Hamas will treat the hostages, whether they will guard them or use them as shields, or kill some of them to manipulate them," the source said, adding that the IDF intends to pay particular attention to the locations where the hostages are believed to be held and is preparing for the possibility that the hostages may be moved from their current location, taking advantage of the movement of hundreds of thousands of people south as part of the evacuation of Gaza City. The unimaginable in Gaza City has already begun, according to UNICEF."Gaza City, the last refuge for families in the northern Gaza Strip, is rapidly becoming a place where children cannot survive. It is a city of fear, flight, and funerals," said Tess Ingram, UNICEF's communications officer for the Middle East and North Africa Regional Office. “In Gaza City, over nine days, I met families who fled their homes in fear—already displaced, now displaced again—arriving with nothing but the clothes on their backs. I met children who were separated from their parents in the chaos. Mothers whose children were starving. Mothers who fear their children will be next. I spoke with children hospitalized, their small bodies torn by shrapnel. “This unthinkable is not imminent, it is already here. The escalation is ongoing,” Ingram said.