European Union leaders meeting in Brussels have condemned the “catastrophic humanitarian situation” in Gaza, but were unable to unite on means of pressuring Israel to end the war.
Thursday’s summit noted a report issued last week by the bloc’s diplomatic service, which found that Israel was likely flouting human rights obligations under the EU-Israel Association agreement. Yet, the bloc stopped short of acting on the assessment or ditching the 25-year-old accord.
“The European Council calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the unconditional release of all hostages, leading to a permanent end to hostilities,” the EU said in a statement.
Amid growing accusations – backed by rights groups and United Nations experts – that Israel is starving people in Gaza, the EU ordered a review of its association agreement with Israel in May. The assessment, sent to member states last week, was restricted.
But several media outlets quoted informed diplomats as saying that the findings highlighted Israel’s blockade on Gaza, the killing of civilians, attacks on hospitals and mass displacement of Palestinians in the territory, as well as the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
With a growing chasm between countries critical of Israeli abuses, such as Ireland and Spain, and Israel-backers Germany and Hungary, the summit’s conclusions on Thursday featured an attenuated statement that deplored “the unacceptable number of civilian casualties and the levels of starvation” in Gaza.
It postponed “discussions on a follow-up” to the report until next month.
“They only managed to come up with this watered-down version of the final statement because of those huge differences between some of the key players here at the EU about how to look forward when it comes to Israel,” said Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Brussels.
Germany was, he said, “unequivocal” in terms of its desire to continue providing Israel with political and military assistance.
The timid statement came despite a push by Spain and Ireland to suspend the EU-Israel agreement, which was signed in 2000 and underpins trade ties between the two entities.
“The war must stop,” said Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin before the gathering. “People of Europe find it incomprehensible that Europe does not seem to be in a position to put pressure on Israel … to stop this war in Gaza, to stop the continuing slaughter of children and innocent civilians.”
On Thursday alone, Israeli attacks killed 62 people, including some near an aid site run by the shady US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a privately run organisation contracted to provide aid under the cover of Israeli troops and security contractors.
Gaza’s Government Media Office said on Thursday that at least 549 Palestinians had been killed near GHF sites since it began operations one month ago. The war has killed 56,156 people in total, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry.
EU leaders called on Israel to lift its blockade on Gaza “to allow immediate, unimpeded access and sustained distribution of humanitarian assistance” to Gaza.
They also condemned the escalation in the West Bank, noting “increased settler violence” and “the expansion of illegal settlements”.
The EU remains Israel’s largest trade partner.
‘Sidelined’ on Iran
Conclusions on the recent 12-day war between Israel and Iran repeated prior calls for de-escalation and stated that Iran “must comply with its legally binding nuclear safeguard obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty”.
Iran denies seeking a nuclear weapon, while Israel is widely believed to have a nuclear arsenal.
Iranian lawmakers have already voted to suspend cooperation with the IAEA, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, a decision that was greenlighted by the country’s Guardian Council on Thursday.
Al Jazeera’s Ahelbarra said the wording of the Iran statement showed the EU was “completely sidelined” over the war, which saw the United States wade in with its bombing of nuclear sites before announcing a ceasefire on Monday.
Defence base ‘eroded’
Besides the Middle East, EU leaders also discussed at Thursday’s meeting an 18th round of sanctions against Russia, now into its fourth year of war in Ukraine.
Addressing leaders via video, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushed for a “clear political message” that his country was firmly on the path to EU accession.
The EU gathering followed Wednesday’s NATO summit in the Hague, where leaders agreed on military spending hikes, aiming to contribute 5 percent of their annual gross domestic product (GDP) to defence by 2035.
Teresa Fallon, director of Brussels’ Centre for Russia, Europe, and Asia Studies, told Al Jazeera that with Russia’s ongoing offensive on Ukraine, “you would expect them to invest even more in their defence base, which has been eroding for the last 30 years”.
US President Donald Trump, she said, wanted to “shift the burden to Europe so that the US can focus more on China”.
“There’s a NATO paradox that goes on here because Europeans are fearful that [if] they spend too much, then the US will say: ‘Great, you’re on your own now and we’re going to focus on Asia’,” she said.
