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Belgium moves closer to coalition crisis over Gaza

Belgian lawmakers convened a reckoning over the country's paralysed policy stance on Gaza at an emergency parliamentary committee hearing on Thursday that cut short the summer break and drew Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot. For weeks, tensions have been brewing inside Belgium's delicate five-party coalition government, with three of the parties growing impatient with what they see as the executive's silence on Israel's ongoing war and the humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip. So far, Belgium has no unified position on whether to officially recognise a Palestinian state, no agreement on whether to sanction Israel over alleged abuses and violations of international law, and no decision on whether to label the situation in Gaza a genocide. Prime minister under pressure The centrist Les Engagés party, as well as the centre-right Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V) and the socialist Vooruit parties, had all urged Prime Minister Bart De Wever of the right-wing New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) to convene the cabinet before Thursday's session. The three parties hoped to push Belgium toward sanctioning Israel and recognising Palestine by winning over at least some politicians from the liberal Reformist Movement (MR), which has so far opposed describing Gaza as a genocide, and the N-VA, which has not yet taken a formal position. But De Wever, on holiday until Sunday, refused to call a meeting of ministers – even via video link. Ahead of the Thursday's showdown, CD&V leader Sammy Mahdi vented his frustration on public broadcaster VRT: "Let's hope the government meets soon, and that when the ministers return from holiday, they understand that in times of genocide, this is where they should be." He warned that if nothing is done, Christian Democrats could no longer "carry on with business as usual" on other policy issues. Vooruit leader Conner Rousseau had also hinted earlier that a government crisis could loom without action. Belgium has taken part in humanitarian aid drops into Gaza, touted by the De Wever government. But those efforts are seen by many lawmakers as insufficient. During the parliamentary meeting, several MPs blasted De Wever for not cutting short his holiday, with Green lawmaker Rajae Maouane saying: "Genocide doesn't take vacations." Belgian government threatened by rift over Gaza inaction Belgium's governing coalition is divided over Gaza – with parties trading blows, the PM on holiday, and a stormy parliamentary debate on Thursday. Prévot pushes for a harder line Prévot, a member of Les Engagés who also serves as Belgium's deputy prime minister, took a much firmer tone than some of his coalition partners. "It is hard not to see all the elements that could amount to clear genocidal violence [in this war]," he told MPs. He said Belgium pushed hard at the EU level to target both Hamas and Israeli political and military leaders with sanctions, and blamed Hungary for blocking consensus. He endorsed a ban on imports from Israeli settlements and pledged to push again for Belgium to blacklist individuals and welcomed signs of support from De Wever's N-VA in that regard. Prévot lamented that Belgium had not followed the lead of other European countries like France in recognising a Palestinian state in July, but argued that halting the war is far more urgent. Without immediate progress, "there will soon be nothing left to recognise", he said. The minister promised MPs that they could "count on [him] to help shift the lines". A looming crisis? After the meeting, Prévot told broadcaster RTL that if N-VA and MR continue to block recognition of Palestine, "it will be grounds for a serious government crisis", and expressed fear that Belgium could suffer "a total loss of credibility on the international stage" due to a double standard for Gaza and other conflicts, such as in Ukraine and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Prévot demanded that Belgium reach a clear position before the UN General Assembly meets on 20 September in New York. Belgium supports bid to suspend Israel from EU research programme Belgium is one of around 10 countries supporting the move, but the threshold for triggering it is still out of reach (bts)