Middle East Cassis wants to form his own impression of the situation in the Middle East
Ignazio Cassis wants to gain his own impression of the current situation in the Middle East. The Federal Councillor will visit Israel and the West Bank on Tuesday and Wednesday.
10.06.2025, 12:52
10.06.2025, 14:18
SDA
The head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) was due to land in Tel Aviv on Tuesday afternoon, according to the Keystone-SDA news agency. He planned to spend a total of just over 20 hours in the region. One of his objectives was to form his own opinion on humanitarian aid in the region.
Cassis was criticized last week. This was particularly the case when he tried to explain why Switzerland had not joined a letter from 20 European states calling for aid in the Gaza Strip to be managed by the UN and humanitarian organizations.
The Ticino native was of the opinion that the letter rejected from the outset the Israeli plan to control the distribution of aid via the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Several dozen people were killed during the first distributions of aid by GHF. GHF is based in the USA and had registered a non-functional branch in Geneva.
Criticism from parliament and diplomatic circles
While the shelling was attributed to the Israeli army, the Federal Council said that it would "never be known" who was really responsible.
Another point of criticism from members of parliament and non-governmental organizations was that the head of the FDFA remained true to his line and continued to condemn Israel and Hamas equally. Many called for stronger condemnation of Israel due to the airstrikes and the blockade of humanitarian aid.
Criticism of the Federal Council also came from diplomatic circles. Dozens of former Swiss ambassadors and hundreds of FDFA staff accused Mr. Cassis of not taking a sufficiently strong stance on Israel's position. According to several UN agencies, the entire population in the Gaza Strip is starving.
No talks with Netanyahu
The issue of humanitarian aid is not the only one on Cassis' agenda. On Wednesday morning, the Federal Councillor will meet with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa and then with Israel's chief diplomat Gideon Sa'ar. A meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, against whom an arrest warrant has been issued by the International Criminal Court, is not planned.
Switzerland must define its position before the UN conference on the two-state solution, which will take place in New York from June 17 to 20.
Several countries could recognize a Palestinian state on this occasion. However, the final document could rather call for efforts to achieve this step. Israel's allies reject this scenario. They argue that such a political decision would be tantamount to legitimizing Hamas.
