The EU has been accused of a “cruel and unlawful betrayal” of Palestinians and European values after failing to take action to impose sanctions on Israel over the war in Gaza.
The stinging rebuke from Amnesty International, echoed by other human rights organisations, came after EU ministers meeting in Brussels on Tuesday declined to endorse any measures to sanction Israel over the brutal war in Gaza and endemic violence in the West Bank.
The EU’s most senior diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said the bloc would keep “options on the table” to pressure Israel’s government if there was no improvement in the “catastrophic” humanitarian situation in Gaza. According to several diplomatic sources she did not endorse any one of 10 sanctions options drawn up by her team, after an earlier EU review found “indications” Israel was in breach of human rights commitments.
Kallas said Israel needed to “take more concrete steps to improve the humanitarian situation on the ground”, which earlier in the day she had described as catastrophic. She was meeting EU foreign affairs ministers days after announcing a potentially significant agreement with Israel to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, where 2.1 million people face famine and drought caused by the collapse of water systems.
EU sources say the flow of aid into the territory has increased to about 80 trucks a day, but distribution remains problematic. With no clear signs that new aid inflows were reaching people over the weekend, Palestinians have continued to risk their lives queueing for food and water at sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed logistics group. Officials iin Gazareported that in one 24-hour period over the weekend, 139 people were killed, including women and children queueing for food. The UN said about 850 Palestinians in the enclave had been killed while waiting to receive aid since May, both at GHF distribution points and elsewhere.
Ministers were not expected to endorse any of the 10 sanctions options, which include full suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement, a trade and cooperation deal. Suspending this deal is widely seen as a non-starter as it requires unanimous support of member states.
Israel’s closest EU allies – Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic – oppose sanctions, especially now Israel has struck the humanitarian deal with the EU. Hungary also continues to veto EU sanctions on violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
Even countries strongly supportive of the Palestinian cause, such as Ireland, have not called for any specific measures, but await proposals from Kallas. Only Spain has come out clearly for a suspension of the association agreement.
Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general, said refusal to suspend the 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 added: “This will be remembered as one of the most disgraceful moments in the EU’s history.”
Claudio Francavilla, the acting EU director of Human Rights Watch in Brussels, said: “Once again, EU ministers have failed. Not enough support for any measure to hold Israel to account, traded away for the illusory promise of a few more trucks.”
Earlier in the day, Kallas said there were positive signs on border crossings, arrival of humanitarian aid trucks, reconstruction of electricity lines and water, but “of course we need to see more in order to see real improvement for the people on the ground”. She said the EU would keep a “close watch” on how the agreement was implemented, with updates to European diplomats once a fortnight.
According to the EU, the agreement with Israel means “the substantial increase of daily trucks for food and non-food items to enter Gaza” among other measures, including the repair of power supplies to Gaza’s critical water desalination facility.
Kallas said member states had a discussion on the options paper, but she did not take ownership of any proposal. “These are the choices that member states have to make,” she told reporters. “We will keep these options on the table and stand ready to act if Israel does not live up to its pledges. The aim is not to punish Israel. The aim is to improve the situation in Gaza.”
Speaking on Monday, Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, expressed confidence the EU would not take any action, saying: “There’s no justification whatsoever.”
Hadja Lahbib, the EU commissioner for humanitarian aid, struck a more urgent tone, saying it was clear the agreement was not yet fully implemented: “My message to the Israeli authorities is very clear. Put this agreement into action now. Stop killing the people. We need humanitarian aid: food, water, fuel to reach the people in need.”
Lahbib, who briefed ministers about the aid deal, added that “it was important to know what we can do if the agreement is not fully implemented” and that the situation would need to have improved before the next formal gathering of foreign ministers in October. “Every minute lost is a life lost,” she said.