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LAST UPDATE | 20 May
EUROPEAN UNION FOREIGN ministers have agreed to review the bloc’s trade and cooperation with Israel in response to human rights abuses in Gaza.
The bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said the EU was acting after “a strong majority” of its 27 member states backed the move in a bid to pressure Israel.
Earlier, the UK suspended trade deal talks with Israel, committed to sanctioning West Bank settlers and summoned the country’s ambassador.
Tánaiste Simon Harris said the EU’s decision to review its trade relationship with Israel reflects “grave concerns held by member states regarding the ongoing military operations by Israel and the blockade of humanitarian aid entering Gaza”.
“Ireland and Spain first called for this step in February 2024,” he said in a statement.
“Since then, the situation has become immeasurably worse, with catastrophic consequences for the civilian population and a real risk of famine.
“Today, a clear majority of member states agreed on the need to send a strong signal to Israel to reverse course, to halt its military operations and to lift the blockade on lifesaving aid.”
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that the government will work to ensure that the review is done “as quickly as possible, and that its conclusions are acted upon”.
“We must stop this war. We need an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid.”
Kallas said it shows that EU countries “see that the situation in Gaza is untenable, and what we want is to really help the people, and what we want is to unblock the humanitarian aid so that it will reach the people”.
Christian Aid Ireland’s Head of Policy & Advocacy Conor O’Neill, said the step is welcome but, at this point, “it is not enough”.
“It defies belief that it has taken more than 53,000 Palestinians in Gaza being killed and those who remain alive at risk of starvation for most, but not all, member states to reach this very limited agreement.
“It’s important to recognise the role that Ireland and Spain played in first putting this on the table over a year ago.”
Junior minister at the Department of Foreign Affairs Neale Richmond told Channel 4 News that the “actions of the Israeli government in Gaza and West Bank are completely unacceptable” and desperately need reversing.
The Dublin Rathdown TD told the UK broadcaster that the Irish government and member states want to see an “immediate and full” reopening of humanitarian corridors for aid, a ceasefire and a “de-escalation” of the Israel government’s military actions.
While declining to name which countries voted against the review, Richmond did go on to listing out “Hungary, Czechia, Germany, Slovakia and Austria” as member states that have “consistently” supported Israel during the war.
Earlier, UK foreign secretary David Lammy hit out at the renewed military offensive in Gaza and the ongoing Israeli blockade on aid entering the territory, describing Israel’s actions as “monstrous”.
He also condemned the actions of “extremist” settlers in the West Bank, saying that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration has a responsibility to intervene to halt their actions.
Speaking at parliament, Lammy said that military escalation in Gaza was “morally unjustifiable, it’s wholly disproportionate, it’s utterly, utterly counterproductive – whatever Israeli ministers claim, this is not the way to bring the hostages safely home”.
He said Netanyahu’s government was planning to drive Gazans from their homes and permit them a fraction of the aid that they need.
As MPs called on him to label it a genocide, Lammy said: “We must call this what it is. It is extremism. It is dangerous. It is repellent.”
International pressure has been building on Israel following a nearly three-month blockade of supplies into Gaza that prompted famine warnings among aid groups.
Separately, the EU Foreign Affairs Council met today to discuss the possibility of suspending a major trade agreement with Israel.
EU foreign policy representatives debated a Dutch-led initiative to review the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a trade accord signed in 2000.
The proposal, spearheaded by Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp, is based on Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which allows for suspension if the EU determines that Israel is committing grave violations of human rights.
The calls for review have received support from France, Spain, Slovenia, Ireland, Sweden and a number of other EU nations.
In a letter to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Veldkamp said Israel’s aid blockade was a violation of its obligations under international humanitarian law and therefore the EU-Israel agreement, which includes provisions to respect human rights.
He also expressed concern about Israel’s plans to entrust the delivery of aid to Palestinians to private companies, rather than the UN and humanitarian organisations.
French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot reaffirmed yesterday that Paris backed the calls for a review into the trade deal with Israel.
“We cannot leave the children of Gaza a legacy of violence and hatred,” Barrot told France Inter radio.
The UN has warned that up to 14,000 babies in Gaza could die within the next 48 hours if aid doesn’t reach them in time, as Israeli forces maintain their blockade on the territory.
Humanitarian organisations have warned that the two million people living in Gaza are facing a food crisis, as some have even resorted to boiling grass and eating animal feed.
There is now a “critical risk of famine”, according to the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.
“All this must stop, and that’s why we are determined to recognise a Palestinian state,” Barrot said.
Barrot was speaking after Macron joined British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in a rare joint statement against Israel.
The statement said that “we will not stand by”, threatened “further concrete actions” if Israel continued to block aid, and said that “we are committed to recognising a Palestinian state.”
Pressed over what these actions could entail, Barrot again urged the EU to agree to the Dutch request to review the association agreement between Israel and the bloc and, in particular, examine if Israel was violating the accord’s commitments on human rights.
He said this raises “the possibility of an eventual suspension” of an accord, which has political as well as commercial dimensions.
“Neither Israel or the EU have an interest in ending that accord,” he added.
A suspension of trade would have major impications for Israel, as the EU is Israel’s biggest trading partner.
The bloc accounted for 32% of Israel’s total trade in 2024 – 34.2% of Israel’s imports came from the EU, and 28.8% of the country’s exports went to the EU.
The legal basis for the EU’s trade relations with Israel is the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
Total trade volume between the EU and Israel last year amounted to €46.8 billion.
Additonal reporting by PA and Eoghan Dalton
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