Europe has a duty to host children hurt and traumatised by the conflict in Gaza for as long as the crisis continues, Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis tells Reuters.

Gerapetritis is seeking partners in what he hopes would be a project to temporarily bring the children to the European Union, and said he discussed the idea with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa this week.

“We need to face this tragedy very clearly,” Gerapetritis said. “Europe should be open to injured people from (Gaza) but also to children who are now facing famine or other sorts of dangers.”

Greece was elected as a member of the United Nations Security Council for 2025-2026 earlier this month, and Gerapetritis believes the country’s historical ties with the Arab world give it credibility to act as a peace broker.

Gerapetritis stressed that the initiative was not linked to regular migration, which has become politically sensitive in Europe and strongly opposed by a resurgent right.

“This is an obvious call of humanitarian assistance. We’re not talking here about economic migrants or other types of irregular migration,” he said, days after far-right parties surged in European parliamentary elections.