Israel welcomes EU no response to Gaza, Palestinians are 'shocked'

Euronews

5 days ago

The EU's recent decision not to act on Israel's war in Gaza is a 'diplomatic feat", Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said in reaction, while his Palestinian counterpart, Varsen Aghabekian-Shahin, described it as 'shocking and disappointing'.
On Tuesday, the 27 EU foreign ministers agreed to delay taking any action against Israel after examining an exhaustive list of 10 options to respond to Israel's breach of the EU-Israel Association Agreement over its failure to respect Palestinian human rights.
The EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said the EU would keep the options, which included the suspension of visa-free travel and the blocking of imports from the Jewish settlements 'on the table' and 'stand ready to act if Israel does not live up to its pledges'.
Following the meeting, Sa'ar wrote on X that his country had achieved 'an important diplomatic feat by managing to push back the obsessive attempts by several European Union countries to impose sanctions on Israel".
'The mere attempt to impose sanctions on a democratic state that is defending itself against attempts to destroy it is outrageous,' Sa'ar wrote. 'I thank our friends in the European Union and their foreign ministers, who supported us and prevented an attack on Israel that would also have been an attack on the European Union itself."
By contrast, Aghabekian Shahin expressed disappointment and anger at the EU's inability to sanction a country it had earlier condemned. In May, the EU ordered a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement which later found "indications" that Israel breached its human rights obligations with actions in Gaza, by for example applying stringent conditions to the deliveries of humanitarian aid.
'It's shocking and disappointing, because everything is crystal clear. I mean, there's a new EU report that clearly stated that Israel has been violating ... 38 violations were indicated in that report. And it's an EU report,' Aghabekian Shahin told Euronews in an exclusive interview. 'These violations have been unfolding in front of everybody's eyes. The whole world has been seeing what is happening in Gaza. The killing, the atrocities, the war crimes,' Aghabekian Shahin added.
The two also provided different responses to a recent deal struck by the EU with Israel to substantially increase the number of trucks of humanitarian aid including medical food items into Gaza. Sa'ar said his country had complied with the agreement while Aghabekian-Shahin insisted that since the agreement was made, 'we see more killings of people'.
Earlier this week, the two ministers were in the same meeting as part of the EU-Southern Neighbourhood ministerial gathering in Brussels which is aimed at deepening the EU's cooperation with Israel as well as nine other southern partners including Syria and Libya.
Sa'ar said the two didn't talk to each other, as the Palestinian Authority 'still sponsors terrorism, makes payments for terrorists and terrorist families', he said.
It was the first time both sides were represented at high level in Brussels since Hamas October 7th terror attacks and the subsequent Israeli military action in Gaza.