Exclusive: Israel and Palestine both to attend key Brussels meeting
The meeting aims to deepen the EU's cooperation with Israel as well as nine other southern partners including Syria and Libya. It's the first time both sides will be represented at high level in Brussels since Hamas October 7th terror attacks and subsequent Israeli military action in Gaza.
The two sides meet frequently at the United Nations but this setting is a more intimate high-level forum, and comes in the week when EU member states are considering taking measures against Israel for its war in Gaza and violence by Israeli Settlers in the West Bank.
Senior Israeli and Palestinian officials confirmed to Euronews that Gideon Saar and Dr. Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, Israel and the Palestinian Authority's foreign affairs ministers would participate in the meeting. Syria's foreign minister from the newly installed government, Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, is also due to attend.
'We would like for us as Palestinians to speak for ourselves at this meeting and send a message to Europeans about the humanitarian crisis for Palestinians and ask that they take measures against Israel,' a Palestinian official told Euronews. 'We will also explain the deteriorating financial situation for the Palestinian Authority as Israel continues to withhold €8.2 billion shekels (€2.1bn) from tax revenues.'
'We want to push for elections for Palestinian people and find a political solution to our situation,' the official added.
The meeting was initially scheduled to take place in June, but the Commission had to postpone the date due to the situation in Gaza.
It comes at a time of difficult relations between the EU and Israel following the country's blockage of food from entering into Gaza and after Palestinian health officials and witnesses alleged recent shootings by Israeli soldiers of Palestinians headed for humanitarian aid sites.
The EU 27 foreign ministers are also scheduled to examine a set of ten options on July 15th following a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement which revealed that Tel Aviv had breached the agreement's Article 2 due to its actions in Gaza.
The proposals, which are listed with their legal basis and the procedure to adopt them, include suspending the 'entire' EU-Israel Association Agreement, halting political dialogue with Israel, or barring Tel Aviv's access to EU programs, all of which require unanimity among 27 member states.
But the Southern neighbourhood ministerial meeting also takes place following the announcement on Thursday that the EU and Israel had agreed to a "significant" improvement of humanitarian aid access into Gaza.
The EU's Southern Neighbourhood partnership derives from the 1995 Barcelona Declaration which committed to turn the Mediterranean into 'an area of dialogue, exchange and cooperation, guaranteeing peace, stability and prosperity', according to an official Commission document.
It involves ministers and other representatives from all 27 EU countries as well as 11 Arab countries of the Mediterranean including Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Libya.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
10 minutes ago
- France 24
European pharma industry still worried about tariffs
The agreement sets a 15 percent tariff on most EU goods imported into the United States, but Washington could still take steps that would see medicines face a higher levy. The EFPIA trade association for the European pharmaceutical industry said it was monitoring announcements on the details of the deal "as key implications for the pharmaceutical sector remain uncertain". An EU fact sheet on the trade deal said the 15 percent rate ceiling would also apply to any potential future tariffs on pharmaceuticals, including Section 232 tariffs meant to protect US national security. Most EU pharmaceuticals currently enter the United States without a tariff, and the EU said this would remain the case until the US decides on whether to impose additional tariffs based on Section 232. Earlier this month Trump threatened tariffs of up to 200 percent on pharmaceuticals in as soon as one year if foreign firms did not begin to manufacture more in the United States. In the spring, in the face of these risks, large European pharmaceutical groups including Roche, Novartis and Sanofi announced more than $200 billion of additional investments in the United States, the world's largest drug market. But US pharmaceutical firms have also set up shop in Ireland, attracted by its low corporate tax rate. The sector employs about 50,000 people and accounted for nearly half of Irish exports last year, reaching 100 billion euros ($116 billion). The EFPIA criticised tariffs as a policy instrument. "Tariffs on medicines are a blunt instrument that will disrupt supply chains, impact on investment in research and development, and ultimately harm patient access to medicines on both sides of the Atlantic," it said.
Euronews
38 minutes ago
- Euronews
Exclusive: Cross-party MEPs call for EU sanctions on Israel over Gaza
A group of 40 cross-party MEPs are pressing on the European Union to suspend its trade deal with Israel and impose sanctions on the Netanyahu-led government, as an UN-backed body warns of signs of famine and widespread starvation in the Gaza Strip. In a joint statement seen exclusively by Euronews, the lawmakers call on the EU to hold the Israeli government accountable for actions that 'blatantly breach the Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law.' The statement also urges Hamas to immediately release Israeli hostages still held captive in Gaza after they were kidnapped from Israel during October 7 2023 attacks. 'Future generations will judge today's leaders on their response, or lack thereof, to the atrocities in Gaza. Failing to act now will be remembered as a moral stain on humanity,' the statement reads. 'The time for moral cowardice is over, and action must be swift.' The coalition of MEPs explicitly call for sanctions on the Israeli government, a move the EU has so far avoided despite allies including the United Kingdom and Norway moving to sanction two Israeli ministers considered extremist, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. On Tuesday, the Netherlands imposed travel bans on both ministers in response to the deepening crisis in Gaza. The 40 signatories also press on the Commission to suspend the EU's Association Agreement with Israel, which defines the trading and political relations between both sides, and which has often been touted as the best tool at the EU's disposal to pressure Israel into improving a spiralling humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. A previous review by the EU's diplomatic arm found indications Israel had breached the human rights obligations enshrined in its Association Agreement with the bloc, but the process failed to trigger any concrete reprisals beyond a discussion between the EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas and her Israeli counterpart, foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar. Those talks resulted in an 'agreement' by Israel to scale up the humanitarian assistance reaching Gaza. But concerns about the humanitarian situation on-the-ground have mounted since. On Monday, the European Commission tabled the partial suspension of Israel's access to the EU's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme in response to its actions in Gaza. But the signatories of the statement call for a much more stringent response, warning "mere words of condemnation are inadequate." They represent 14 of the EU's 27 countries and six different political groups, from The Left to the centre-right European People's Party (EPP). Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza has exposed deep political and national fault-lines in the European Union. But the deepening humanitarian crisis is prompting lawmakers from ideologically opposed groups to join forces in calling for more decisive EU action. 'MEPs from across the spectrum of pro-European, pro-democratic parties have united behind this statement,' MEP Evin Incir, who sits on the centre-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group, told Euronews, adding that more signatories were expected to support the statement in the coming hours. 'Our concerns are directed at both the European Commission and EU member states, who all need to be more decisive in their response to the unfolding humanitarian crisis,' she added. The statement comes as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global watchdog monitoring hunger with the backing of governments and the UN, said there is 'mounting evidence' that 'widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths' in the besieged territory. Israeli government officials have either denied that there is famine in Gaza or deflected the blame. There have been multiple reports of armed gangs looting aid deliveries and selling the contents on the black market, which could be exacerbating the crisis.
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
Gaza famine warning as Israel resists ceasefire calls
The health ministry figure excludes deaths from hunger in the Palestinian territory gripped by dire humanitarian conditions made worse by Israel's total blockade of aid from March to May. This week, Israel launched a daily pause in fighting and opened secure routes to enable UN and non-governmental agencies to distribute food on Gaza's devastated streets. Hundreds of truckloads of aid have begun to arrive. But Israeli strikes continued overnight, killing 30 people in the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to Gaza's civil defence agency -- and experts warn a humanitarian catastrophe of historic proportions is imminent. "The worst-case scenario of famine is now unfolding in the Gaza Strip," said the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC), a coalition of monitors tasked by the UN to warn of impending crises. Urgent action now The World Food Programme's emergency director, Ross Smith, likened the situation to some of the worst famines of the past century. "This is unlike anything we have seen in this century. It reminds us of previous disasters in Ethiopia or Biafra," Smith said via video-link from Rome. "We need urgent action now." In a statement released ahead of the IPC report, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office accused Hamas of distorting casualty figures and accused the group of looting food aid destined for Palestinian civilians. "While the situation in Gaza is difficult and Israel has been working to ensure aid delivery, Hamas benefits from attempting to fuel the perception of a humanitarian crisis," the statement said. "We already allow significant amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza every single day, including food, water and medicine. Unfortunately, Hamas... has been stealing aid from the Gaza population, many times by shooting Palestinians." As late as Sunday, Netanyahu had been insisting there was "no starvation in Gaza" but even his close international ally, US President Donald Trump, has now warned the situation appears to be "real starvation". Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza on March 2 after ceasefire talks broke down. In late May, it began allowing a small trickle of aid to resume, amid warnings of a wave of starvation. Then on Sunday, faced with a mounting international chorus of alarm, Israel began a series of "tactical pauses" while allowed aid trucks to cross two border crossings into Gaza, and Jordanian and Emirati planes to airdrop aid. Shipments have ramped up, but for the IPC this effort will not prove enough unless aid agencies are granted "immediate, unimpeded" humanitarian access. "Failure to act now will result in widespread death in much of the Strip," it said, warning that 16 children under the age of five had died of hunger since July 17. "Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths," it said. According to Netanyahu's office, the pause in military operations covers "key populated areas" between 10:00 am (0700 GMT) and 8:00 pm every day. Designated aid convoy routes will be secure from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm. COGAT, an Israeli defence ministry body in charge of civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, said more than 200 truckloads of aid were distributed by the UN and aid agencies on Monday. Air strikes Another 260 trucks were permitted to cross into Gaza to deposit aid at collection points, four UN tankers brought in fuel and 20 pallets of aid were airdropped from Jordanian and Emirati planes, COGAT said. Overnight, however, strikes continued. Gaza's civil defence agency said Tuesday that Israeli air strikes killed at least 30 Palestinians, including women and children, in the central Nuseirat district. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the strikes were carried out overnight and into the morning and "targeted a number of citizens' homes" in the Nuseirat refugee camp. The local Al-Awda hospital said it had received "the bodies of 30 martyrs, including 14 women and 12 children". An Israeli military spokesman told AFP that he would need more information to enable him to look into the strikes. With aid experts pushing for a ceasefire to enable a large-scale humanitarian operation, Israel's foreign minister addressed reporters in Jerusalem to denounce what he called a "distorted campaign" of international pressure. Gideon Saar told reporters that if Israel was to halt the conflict while Hamas is still in power in Gaza and still holding hostages it would be a "tragedy for both Israelis and Palestinians".
