EU leaders kick Israel partnership down the road despite pressure
A majority of EU countries ordered the review of the bloc's deal with Israel over its war with Gaza, but they cannot agree on what to do with it.
Over lunch on Thursday conducted in strict discretion, with mobile phones kept out of the room, the 27 EU leaders chewed over the eight-page review listing Israel's human rights violations including blockade of humanitarian assistance, military strikes against hospitals and forced displacement of the Palestinian population.
But despite a majority of 17 countries calling for the review in May, leaders concluded only "to continue discussions on a follow-up... taking into account the evolution of the situation on the ground."
It was a 'good sign" according to one diplomat that the EU "is responsive to Palestinian plight', since it will give Kaja Kallas, the EU's top diplomat, space to engage with Israel and work with the European Commission, to scope out further options for action if the situation on the ground doesn't improve.
With Israel's recent ceasefire with Iran, some argue that severing political and trade ties with Tel Aviv would not make sense.
For others, it's another sign of Europe's weak response to the ongoing crisis in the Middle-East. Divisions among member states over how to address Israel's war on Gaza and the humanitarian catastrophe are so deep that most countries prefer to let Kallas decide on what to do next. Some also warn that any trade measure with Israel will require a qualified majority that will be difficult to find in the European Commission's college of commissioners.
'I defended that the EU must suspend the association agreement between Europe and Israel, as a measure that is proportional to the humanitarian catastrophe (…) in Palestine,' Spain's prime minister Pedro Sanchez told reporters at a press conference following the Council summit. 'From a political and moral point of view, we have the obligation, the moral duty to saves lives in Gaza," he said.
Thursday's conclusions on Israel came despite pressure from Spain but also Ireland and Slovenia whose leaders had called on the EU prior to the Council summit to take concrete steps to condemn Tel Aviv's violations in Gaza.
Ireland's Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that the "degree of carnage and destruction" as well as "death and injury to children" in Gaza requires "strong" humanitarian and political responses from the EU. Martin said he found it "incomprehensible" that Europe cannot find a way "to pressure Israel to stop this war in Gaza".
Following the Council, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that the Council had shared concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and had considered how – with the US – the EU could exert pressure on Israel to bring about a ceasefire. French President Emmanuel Macron also called for an immediate ceasefire.
Israel has so far maintained its humanitarian blockade in Gaza to pressure Hamas to release its remaining hostages.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military killed at least 45 Palestinians, including some who had sought aid, the Hamas-run health ministry said. At the same time, the Israeli military announced that seven soldiers had been killed in a bomb attack claimed by Hamas.
The war has so far resulted in more than 56,000 Palestinians killed and more than 131,00 wounded, according to the Associated Press citing the Hamas-run health ministry.
On Thursday, Israel's national security minister Itamar Bengvir called on X for a 'complete halt' of humanitarian aid in Gaza, as the current one is a 'true shame".
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