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THE EU IS to totally defer a ban on trade with Israel after reaching an agreement with the Netanyahu government to work towards increasing the level of aid in Gaza.
The agreement, which is likely to be met with strong criticism from European politicians critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza, comes after a review of the EU’s trade agreement with Tel Aviv said its military’s actions in Palestine breached human rights obligations.
European leaders failed to reach an agreement on whether to take action to put an end to the trade agreement following a summit in Brussels last month, but agreed to engage with Israeli authorities on the matter to come to a resolution.
Speaking today, the EU’s foreign affairs commissioner Kaja Kallas announced that, following engagement, Israel has agreed to implement measures to increase the distribution and delivery of aid into Gaza.
The measure was announced just an hour after MEPs rejected a motion to censure the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who many in the European Parliament have criticised for not taking stronger action to improve conditions in Gaza.
Kallas detailed that Israel, which has effectively put the Palestinian territory under siege since launching its counteroffensive operation against Hamas in October 2023, has agreed to increasing the delivery of food and other items to enter Gaza and open several border crossings and aid routes from Jordan and Egypt.
In a post to social media, Kallas said:
“We count on Israel to implement every measure agreed.”
The UN has warned that the lack of sufficient deliveries of aid into Gaza is placing the entire population there at risk of famine. The World Health Organization said the shortcomings in the delivery of fuel has led to the health system there to collapse.
Israel’s counteroffensive has killed more than 57,600 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, since the 7 October attack by Hamas in 2023, according to the region’s health agency – which the UN says is accurate.
Independent humanitarian watchdogs, such as Amnesty International, describe Israel’s actions as “genocide”.
Today, Gaza’s civil defence agency has said at least 52 people, including eight children, have been killed by Israeli forces in the Palestinian territory. The strikes and gunfire came just hours after Hamas announced it was willing to release 10 Israel hostages.
The EU’s review of Israel’s trade agreement highlighted breaches to human rights clauses in the deal over Israel’s continued restriction of basic aid, such as food, medicine, fuel and other vital supplies, in Gaza.
It also said that the restriction of aid amounts to the use of “starvation as a method of war” and referenced the “unprecedented level of killing and injury of civilians in Gaza” resulting from “indiscriminate attacks without proportion or precaution”.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said at the time that these events have taken place “with a persistent lack of accountability” and called for concrete actions to be taken by the EU.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli military maintain that soldiers target legitimate facilities which assist militant group Hamas.
Dozens of UN agencies, however, have condemned the strikes on the locations, which include residential buildings, make-shift refugee hubs, hospitals and critical infrastructure.
UN agencies and independent NGOs have not been able to fully operate their aid delivery services due to a lack of supplies and the replacement of its services by a US-Israeli-backed organisations, which has been countlessly condemned for its delivery model.
The controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) operates during strict and limited hours. Dozens of civilians have been killed by Israeli soldiers while queuing for aid at one of its four sites, though the organisation denies involvement.
It also requests that Palestinians in Gaza travel to one of its four hubs, which are located in different parts of the territory. This results in civilians having to sometimes cross into and past active combat regions, according to Oxfam.
Despite this, Kallas said that the EU will coordinate and facilitate the delivery of its aid deal with Israel and did not rule out working with GHF, though reports from Brussels claim the EU will seek to work with UN agencies primarily.
She said: “The EU stands ready to coordinate with all relevant humanitarian stakeholders, UN agencies and NGOs on the ground, to ensure swift implementation of those urgent steps.”
A third of Israel’s imports come from the EU, valued at over €23bn annually, while Europe imports less than 1% of its goods from Israel.
Suspending trade ties would require a unanimous decision, which is likely impossible as countries like Austria, Germany and Hungary, that tend to more supportive of Israel’s government.
Ireland was among ten member states who requested that a review take place in the context of the EU’s compliance with the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice.
The non-binding advisory opinion found that “Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful and needs to be brought to an end as rapidly as possible”.
The war began after Hamas militants attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, leading to the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians.
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