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.
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