Foreign minister speaks of satisfaction, hope and vigilance after Gaza agreement
Belgian Foreign minister Maxime Prévot reacted on Thursday with “great satisfaction and hope”, but also with “vigilance”, to the announcement overnight of the first phase of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
“We have never been so close to a peace agreement,” he told RTBF on Thursday morning. However, he remains vigilant, recalling that earlier this year, “there was already a ceasefire with a first phase, but we never saw the second”.
“The most urgent priority remains, above all, ending the humanitarian blockade,” he said.
The deal agreed with negotiators overnight must still be approved by the Israeli government, which is meeting on Thursday.
Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, a key partner in prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s majority, has already said his far-right Religious Zionism will vote against the agreement, which would see the release of hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners.
“Great fear of the consequences of emptying prisons and releasing the next generation of terror leadership, which will do everything to continue spilling rivers of Jewish blood, God forbid,” he posted on X.
“For this reason alone, we cannot join the short-sighted celebrations and vote in favor of the deal.”
Prévot also announced a new agreement between Belgium’s federal government and the regions on Israel. It is intended to “plug the gaps in the system, in everything related to the export and transit of arms, to ensure that nothing can pass through Belgium to support Israel's military efforts”.
"The most urgent priority remains, above all, ending the humanitarian blockade"
Ministers decided to not only ban exports to the Israeli army, but to Israel in general, including dual-use goods and transit.
On Wednesday, ships from the Freedom Flotilla and Thousand Madleens to Gaza flotillas were intercepted by the Israeli navy in international waters, with several Belgians on board. A week earlier, the same happened to boats from the Global Sumud flotilla, with Belgian activists being detained for several days in an Israeli prison.
“We will work for the release of the Belgians, as we did for the previous flotilla,” Prévot said.
On their return to Belgium, several participants criticised what they saw as the inaction of the government. “These flotillas, despite the nobility of their approach, are counterproductive,” Prévot said. “We know that Israel will never let them reach Gaza. What do they expect from me? That we send in the army?”
He said diplomats were on their way to the detention centre where the Belgians are being held.
Displaced Palestinians in a makeshift camp in Al-Zawayda in the central Gaza Strip, 9 October 2025 © PHOTO BASHAR TALEB / AFP
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