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Arab News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
EU refusal to suspend Israel agreement a ‘cruel and unlawful betrayal': Amnesty chief
LONDON: The EU's refusal to suspend its association agreement with Israel is a 'cruel and unlawful betrayal' of European values, the head of Amnesty International has said. Agnes Callamard's statement came after the bloc decided against suspending the agreement, dashing hopes that the EU would take a unified stand against Israel's war in Gaza and its illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories. 'The EU's refusal to suspend its agreement with Israel is a cruel and unlawful betrayal — of the European project and vision, predicated on upholding international law and fighting authoritarian practices, of the European Union's own rules and of the human rights of Palestinians,' she said. 'European leaders had the opportunity to take a principled stand against Israel's crimes, but instead gave it a greenlight to continue its genocide in Gaza, its unlawful occupation of the whole Occupied Palestinian Territory and its system of apartheid against Palestinians.' EU foreign ministers met in Brussels on Tuesday to review 10 options for potentially suspending the agreement, in full or in part. These included a full suspension, a pause on preferential trade and research, a weapons embargo, sanctions on Israeli ministers, and ending visa-free travel for Israeli citizens to Europe. However, ministers opted against taking any of the options. Callamard said: 'The EU's own review has clearly found that Israel is violating its human rights obligations under the terms of the association agreement. 'Yet, instead of taking measures to stop it and prevent their own complicity, member states chose to maintain a preferential trade deal over respecting their international obligations and saving Palestinian lives. 'This is more than political cowardice. Every time the EU fails to act, the risk of complicity in Israel's actions grows. 'This sends an extremely dangerous message to perpetrators of atrocity crimes that they will not only go unpunished but be rewarded.' Amnesty International, in a statement after the EU decision, highlighted the precedence of international law over EU and national law. Last July, the International Court of Justice described Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories as illegal. EU members must take measures to act based on that opinion under international law, Amnesty said. 'Victims are entitled to far more than empty words,' Callamard said. 'Member states must now take matters into their own hands and unilaterally suspend all forms of cooperation with Israel that may contribute to its grave violations of international law, including a comprehensive embargo on the export of arms and surveillance equipment and related technology, and a total ban on trade with and investment in Israel's illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.'
Al Jazeera
4 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
EU demands more action from Israel on aid deal as strikes in Gaza continue
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the 27-member bloc was leaving the door open to action against Israel over its assault on the besieged and bombarded Gaza Strip if the humanitarian situation does not improve. Kallas put forward 10 potential options on Tuesday 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. Despite growing anger over the devastation in Gaza, EU states remain divided over how to tackle Israel, and there was no agreement on taking any of the moves at a Tuesday meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. 'We will keep these options on the table and stand ready to act if Israel does not live up to its pledges,' Kallas told journalists. 'The aim is not to punish Israel. The aim is to really improve the situation in Gaza.' The meeting in Brussels came in the wake of the deal largely forged by Kallas and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar. Saar met with EU leaders on Monday after agreeing last week to allow desperately needed food and fuel into the coastal enclave of 2.3 million people who have endured more than 21 months of Israel's deadly assault amid a crippling blockade. 'The border crossings have been opened, we see more trucks going in, we see also operations of the electricity network, but it's clearly not enough because the situation is still untenable,' Kallas said. Details of the deal remain unclear, but EU officials have rejected any cooperation with the Israeli-backed GHF over ethical and safety concerns. Calls to end ties with Israel European nations like Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain have increasingly called for the EU's ties with Israel to be reassessed in the wake of the war, which has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians – mostly women and children. A report by the European Commission found 'indications' that Israel's actions in Gaza are violating human rights obligations in the agreement governing its ties with the EU, but the bloc is divided over how to respond. Public pressure over Israel's conduct in Gaza made the new humanitarian deal possible, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said, adding, 'That force of the 27 EU member states is what I want to maintain now.' Kallas will update EU member nations every two weeks on how much aid is actually getting through to Gaza, Irish Foreign Minister Thomas Byrne said. 'So far we haven't really seen the implementation of it, maybe some very small actions, but there's still slaughter going on, there's still a denial of access to food and water as well,' he said. 'We need to see action.' Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares Bueno said details of the deal were still being discussed and the EU would monitor results to see if Israel is complying. 'It's very clear that this agreement is not the end – we have to stop the war,' he said. There have been regular protests across the continent, including a small one on Tuesday outside the European Council, where the ministers were discussing the aid plan. Dozens of protesters in Brussels called for more aggressive actions to stop Israel's offensive in the largely destroyed Gaza Strip, where famine looms and the healthcare system is on the brink of collapse. 'It was able to do this for Russia,' said Alexis Deswaef, vice president of the International Federation for Human Rights. 'It must now agree on a package of sanctions for Israel to end the genocide and for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.' Human rights groups largely called the EU's actions insufficient. 'This is more than political cowardice,' said Agnes Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International. 'Every time the EU fails to act, the risk of complicity in Israel's actions grows. This sends an extremely dangerous message to perpetrators of atrocity crimes that they will not only go unpunished but be rewarded.' 'Moving towards the unknown' Israel and Hamas have been engaged in indirect talks for two weeks over a new ceasefire deal, but talks appear to be deadlocked. Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said negotiations have not stopped but are still in the early stages, adding that Israeli and Hamas delegations are both in Doha. Meanwhile, Israeli attacks across Gaza resumed on Tuesday, killing at least 30 people, including two women who were shot near an aid distribution point run by the controversial Israel- and US-backed GHF. Gaza's civil defence said on Tuesday that its 'crews have transported at least 18 martyrs and dozens of wounded since dawn', most of them following Israeli air strikes on the northern Gaza Strip, where Israeli forces have stepped up attacks in recent weeks. On Tuesday, the army issued another forced evacuation threat for Palestinians living in 16 areas in northern Gaza. Among them is Jabalia, a ravaged town where residents have been fleeing in fear and panic. 'People are using their cars and donkeys to evacuate the area, and all are moving towards the unknown; they don't know where to go,' Al Jazeera's Moath al-Kahlout said. 'They are also struggling with transportation as there is no fuel to move from here and other areas. So, the situation is very chaotic. Everyone living here is in a state of panic.' One Israeli strike also hit a tent in Gaza City housing displaced Palestinians, killing six people, according to the civil defence agency. In the southern area of Rafah, two women were killed by Israeli fire near an aid distribution point, the agency said, adding that 13 people were wounded in the incident. The United Nations said that at least 875 have died trying to access aid in Gaza since late May, when the GHF began operating. Meanwhile, health teams in Gaza for the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) have warned that malnutrition rates are increasing, especially since the Israeli siege was tightened more than four months ago. According to UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini, one in 10 children screened is malnourished. In a statement, the group called malnutrition in the Strip 'engineered and man-made'.
Al Arabiya
4 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
EU top diplomat says US should share ‘burden' of arming Ukraine
EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas on Tuesday said the United States should 'share the burden' of arming Ukraine, after President Donald Trump said Europe could buy American weaponry for Kyiv. 'If you promise to give the weapons but say that it's somebody else who is going to pay for it, it is not really given by you,' Kallas said after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
The Guardian
02-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Israel fears the threat of trade sanctions — but is the EU ready to follow through?
After many months of inaction and complicity in the face of Israel's destruction of Gaza, Europe is finally beginning to stir. Tens of thousands of people killed and attacks on schools and hospitals had apparently not been enough. But, along with the blocking of humanitarian aid and open calls for ethnic cleansing, Israel's actions finally became too severe to ignore, deny or justify. In recent weeks, a cascade of unusually strong statements, diplomatic rebukes and threats of sanctions has emerged from European capitals – each move amplifying the next, as if a long-dormant herd has suddenly jolted into motion. Among these developments, the most significant may be the possible suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement, which grants Israel preferential access to the world's largest single market. Last month, the Dutch foreign minister, Caspar Veldkamp, broke the EU's silence with a letter demanding a formal review of Israel's compliance with article 2 of the agreement, which requires it to 'respect human rights'. That move triggered a wave of other EU states lining up behind the idea. At the 20 May meeting of EU foreign ministers, a clear majority – 17 member states – backed the Dutch proposal. EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, who had appeared sceptical ahead of the meeting, seemed to shift during the discussion and at the end clearly announced the launch of the review. Is this a real turning point or just more empty words? That remains to be seen. What is clear is that the EU's dynamics have shifted. A year ago, when Spain and Ireland – the governments most vocal about the Palestinian plight – proposed the same review idea, they found little support. The Netherlands, by contrast, is traditionally closer to Israel and sits in the EU's middle ground on this issue. It is this broad centre, which up until now favoured dialogue and close ties with Israel, that has now shifted and aligned with the more critical flank. Only Israel's staunchest backers – including Germany, Italy, Hungary and the Czech Republic – remained in a minority voting against the review. The review is only the first step: an examination of whether Israel is breaching article 2, which defines respect for human rights as an 'essential element' of the agreement. Given the scale of violations and crimes in Gaza and the West Bank, backed up by findings from international courts, such a review shouldn't even be necessary. As one Irish campaigner put it: 'It's like standing in front of a burning building and asking for a review of whether there's a fire.' The facts are clear – but even acknowledging them is politically explosive. The review, which is expected to be done by the next EU foreign ministers' meeting on 23 June, now depends on two key figures: Kallas and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen. Will they confirm the obvious – that Israel is in breach of article 2 – and draw the logical consequences? Or will they seek to shield EU-Israel ties from any rupture? Kallas, a liberal from Estonia, had until recently avoided much criticism of Israel, though now seems to have moved along with the EU's political centre. Von der Leyen, a German Christian Democrat, represents the bloc's more Israel-aligned wing. She was the face of the EU's initial blanket support for Israel's devastating response to Hamas's 7 October 2023 atrocities, and then fell largely silent as civilian deaths in Gaza soared. But last week, for the first time, she stated that Israel's killing of civilians is 'abhorrent' and 'cannot be justified under humanitarian and international law'. That language points unmistakably toward the only credible conclusion the review can reach. Once the review is completed, EU foreign ministers will discuss options for next steps, which should include suspending the association agreement. A full suspension would require unanimity among all 27 member states – an impossible bar given diehards such as Hungary. But suspending the agreement's preferential trade component – the most economically significant part – requires only a qualified majority: 15 member states representing at least 65% of the EU population. The trade pillar is where the real leverage lies. The EU is Israel's largest trading partner, accounting for 32% of its total trade. Israel, by contrast, represents just 0.8% of the EU's trade. Revoking preferential access wouldn't stop trade, but would impose a tangible cost on Israel in the form of higher tariffs and reduced market access. The EU could also suspend Israel's participation in Horizon Europe, the union's flagship research programme – a prospect already causing alarm in Israel's academic sector. Reaching a qualified majority is still a tall order. Not all states that voted for the review necessarily favour actual suspension. And to meet the 65% population threshold, Germany or Italy – large states that opposed the review – would need to shift. For now, that seems unlikely. But if Israel continues its current extremist course, pressure will mount. Chancellor Friedrich Merz's unusually strong rebuke of Israel last week suggests that not even Berlin's backing can be taken for granted. And if the EU decided to ignore the findings of an honest review, it would render article 2 meaningless and undermine human rights clauses in EU agreements around the world. Since the 1990s, the EU has invoked such clauses over 20 times to suspend benefits over serious violations, mostly in Africa. That's why the possibility of suspension cannot be dismissed. Unless Israel fundamentally changes course, the likelihood will only grow. For Europe, this is an opportunity to step out of its self-imposed irrelevance and begin to matter again. Pressure-free dialogue has completely failed. When the EU held an association council meeting with Israel in February and politely urged more aid to Gaza and a halt to settlement expansion, Israel responded by blocking all aid and accelerating settlement growth. Only after the Dutch initiative began gaining traction did Israeli officials start pushing internally to allows some aid into Gaza, citing the threat of EU sanctions. To prevent the looming horror of ethnic cleansing and annexation, the EU must go further and impose a real economic and political cost on Israel. If it does, the prospect of restoring suspended benefits could then become the EU's most powerful lever to encourage a different path: one that leads not to endless oppression and violence, but to peace and security based on equality. Martin Konečný runs the European Middle East Project (EuMEP), a Brussels-based NGO
