EU ministers ask for more info from Israel on their new deal to ramp up aid to Gaza
Foreign ministers from the EU's 27-member nations were meeting in Brussels in the wake of a new aid deal for Gaza, largely forged by EU foreign policy chief Kallas and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.
Saar met with EU leaders on Monday after agreeing last week to allow desperately needed food and fuel into the coastal enclave of 2.3 million people, who have endured more than 21 months of war.
'We have reached a common understanding with Israel to really improve the situation on the ground, but it's not about the paper, but actually implementation of the paper," Kallas said before the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council.
'As long as it hasn't really improved, then we haven't all done enough,' she said, before calling for a ceasefire.
Details of the deal remain unclear, but EU officials have rejected any cooperation with the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund over ethical and safety concerns. Opening more border crossings and allowing more aid trucks into Gaza is the priority, but officials say eventually they'd like to set up a monitoring station at Kerem Shalom crossing.
Kallas said that the ministers will also discuss Iran's nuclear program, concerns over developments in Georgia and Moldova, and new sanctions on Russia. The EU is readying its 18th package of sanctions on Russia, with holdouts within the bloc arguing over the keystone policy of capping oil prices to cut into Moscow's energy revenues.
European nations like Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain have increasingly called for the EU's ties with Israel to be reassessed in the wake of the war in Gaza.
A report by the European Commission found 'indications' that Israel's actions in Gaza are violating human rights obligations in the agreement governing its ties with the EU — but the bloc is divided over what to do in response.
That public pressure over Israel's conduct in Gaza made the new humanitarian deal possible even before a ceasefire, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said.
'That force of the 27 EU member states is what I want to maintain now," he said.
Kallas will update EU member nations every two weeks on how much aid is actually getting through to desperate Gazans, Irish Foreign Minister Thomas Byrne said.
'So far we haven't really seen the implementation of it, maybe some very small actions, but there's still slaughter going on, there's still a denial of access to food and water as well," he said. 'We need to see action.'
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manual Albares Bueno said that details of the deal were still being discussed and that the EU would monitor results to see if Israel is complying with those.
'We don't know whether it works or if we will know how it works,' he said. 'It's very clear that this agreement is not the end — we have to stop the war."
There are regular protests across the continent, like a small one on Tuesday outside the European Commission, where the ministers were discussing the aid plan.
Dozens of protesters in Brussels called for more aggressive actions by Europe to stop Israel's military campaign in Gaza.
'It was able to do this for Russia," said Alexis Deswaef, vice president of the International Federation for Human Rights. "It must now agree on a package of sanctions for Israel to end the genocide and for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.'
The war in Gaza began after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage, most of whom have been released in earlier ceasefires. Israel responded with an offensive that has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
The ministry, which is under Gaza's Hamas-run government, doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants. The U.N. and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
The EU has observed some aid trucks entering Gaza, but 'not enough,' said Hajda Lahbib, an EU commissioner for equality, preparedness and crisis management.
'The situation is still so dangerous, so violent, with strikes still continuing on the ground, that our humanitarian partners cannot operate. So, this is the reality — we need to have a ceasefire," she said.
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