Divided EU weighs action against Israel over Gaza war - War on Gaza
The bloc's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has put forward 10 potential steps after Israel was found to have breached a cooperation deal between the two sides on human rights grounds.
The measures range from suspending the entire accord or curbing trade ties to sanctioning Israeli ministers, imposing an arms embargo and halting visa-free travel.
But despite growing anger over the devastation in Gaza, EU states remain divided over how to tackle Israel, and diplomats say there appears to be no critical mass for any move.
"I was asked to give the inventory of the options that could be taken, and it's up to the member states to discuss what we do with these options," Kallas said Monday.
The tone of discussions will be shaped strongly by how Israel is implementing a promise to the EU to improve humanitarian access to Gaza.
Kallas said Thursday she had struck a deal with her Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar, to open more entry points and allow in more food.
Gaza's two million residents are facing dire humanitarian conditions as Israel has severely limited aid during its devastating war on the strip.
"We see some good signs of more trucks getting in," Kallas said Monday.
"But of course we know that this is not enough and we need to push more (so) that the implementation of what we have agreed also happens on the ground."
At a meeting of EU and neighbouring countries in Brussels on Monday, Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi said the situation in Gaza remained "catastrophic".
'No justification'
Israel's Saar, speaking at the same meeting, sounded confident his country would avoid further EU action.
"I'm sure not any of them will be adopted by the EU member states," said the foreign minister. "There's no justification whatsoever."
While the EU appears unable for now to take any further moves against Israel, just getting to this stage has been a considerable step.
The bloc only agreed to review the cooperation deal after Israel relaunched its devastating operation in Gaza following the collapse of a ceasefire in March.
Until then, deep divisions between countries backing Israel and those more favourable to the Palestinians had hamstrung any move.
The war began on October 7, 2023, and has killed at least 58,386 Palestinians and wounded more than 139,000, most of them women and children.
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