Israel’s foreign minister was in Brussels on Monday to address his counterparts from the European Union, as part of a “diplomatic battle” to win support from the bloc amid deepening criticism over the human toll of the war and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to consider Palestinian statehood.
The foreign minister, Yisrael Katz, was scheduled to meet in a private session with E.U. foreign ministers to discuss defeating Hamas and the return of hostages from Gaza, his office said. In brief remarks to reporters before the meeting, Mr. Katz said he would speak about Israel’s need for international support to succeed in both those objectives.
“I’m here to meet my colleagues, the foreign ministers for the E.U., and to discuss with them about two main issues. First of all, bring back our hostages,” Mr. Katz said, holding up photos of the youngest hostage, 1-year-old Kfir Bibas, and several others. He added that Israel needed E.U. support to ensure its security, adding: “Our brave soldiers are fighting in very hard conditions.”
The Palestinian foreign minister, Riyad al-Maliki, was also scheduled to address the E.U. officials in a separate appearance.
Gazan health officials said on Sunday that the death toll from Israel’s attacks since Oct. 7 had surpassed 25,000. Even the United States, Israel’s biggest ally, has been pressuring it to reduce civilian casualties. And anger is growing among the Israeli public over the government’s failure to secure the release of the more than 100 hostages believed to be still held in Gaza after nearly four months of war.
Senior leaders of the Israeli military have expressed frustrations over the feasibility of both freeing the hostages and eradicating Hamas, which Mr. Netanyahu has insisted upon, and over his equivocation about a postwar plan for Gaza.
Over the weekend, Mr. Netanyahu categorically refused Hamas’s call for a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza in return for the release of hostages, and doubled down on his opposition to the eventual creation of a Palestinian state, which President Biden and several European leaders have argued is the only viable long-term resolution.
“My insistence is what has prevented — over the years — the establishment of a Palestinian state that would have constituted an existential danger to Israel,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement in Hebrew on Sunday. “As long as I am prime minister, I will continue to strongly insist on this.”
Mr. Netanyahu’s comments came two days after he spoke by phone with Mr. Biden, who expressed optimism to reporters after the call that the two leaders might find consensus about a two-state solution.
Mr. Biden’s Middle East coordinator at the White House, Brett McGurk, headed back to the region on Sunday in hopes of making progress on freeing hostages, according to two American officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of diplomatic talks.
The officials said he would meet with leaders in Egypt and Qatar, which have been important players in the talks and helped broker a cease-fire in November during which Hamas released more than 100 hostages. Mr. McGurk was expected to meet in Cairo with Gen. Abbas Kamel — the chief of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service and widely considered the nation’s second-most powerful official — and in Doha with Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani.
Matina Stevis-Gridneff contributed reporting.