EU to review trade ties with Israel following criticism of conduct in Gaza war
So-called Association Agreement between EU and Israel requires trade ties ‘be based on respect for human rights,’ which some European countries claim Israel has violated
BRUSSELS, Belgium — European Union foreign ministers will hold formal discussions later this month on a demand to review an EU pact governing trade ties with Israel over its conduct of the war in Gaza, the bloc’s top diplomat said Thursday.
Israel’s ongoing blockade of humanitarian assistance for Gaza forced a leading aid group to shut its community soup kitchens Thursday as it faced empty warehouses and no replenishment of supplies in the war-battered enclave. Jerusalem says the siege is needed to pressure Hamas to release the 59 hostages still held by Palestinian terrorists in the Strip.
At the same time, the war in Gaza is about to enter a new phase, where Israel plans to “expand and intensify our operations,” according to IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir.
“The frustration among the [EU] member states, that we can’t stop this, is tremendous,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters after chairing informal talks between the bloc’s foreign ministers in Poland.
Ties between the EU and Israel — which are major trading partners — are governed by a so-called Association Agreement. It stipulates that their ties “shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles.”
The Dutch government has said that it intends to block the agreement pending an EU review into whether the Israeli government is complying with the pact, which entered force in 2000. Kallas said the ministers would discuss this on May 20.
“It is very important to signal at this moment that we are greatly concerned by the continuous blockade of access to humanitarian aid and the Israeli decision to intensify the war effort,” Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said.
He said that Dutch concerns are “very broadly shared among European countries.”
Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon was among those backers.
“The world has clearly failed on the test of humanity,” she said. “We have to act more seriously because we are really facing a clear violation of international law and humanitarian law.”
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said that “it’s more important than ever that the voice of Europe raises against what is happening right now in Gaza.” He said the EU “will never accept the displacement of people” from Gaza.
But the EU is deeply divided over how to respond to the conflict, and it holds little leverage over Israel. Austria, Germany and Hungary have backed the Israeli stance, while Ireland, Spain and Slovenia have been vocal in their support for the Palestinians.
Last year, Ireland, Spain and Slovenia also tried to press their EU partners to examine whether Israel has broken the rules, without success, and Kallas did not appear optimistic about success on May 20.
“You know very well that on certain issues we have very divergent views,” she said.
The war in Gaza broke out on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 50,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools and mosques.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 407. The toll includes a police officer killed in a hostage rescue mission and a Defense Ministry civilian contractor.
The Times of Israel Community.