The European External Action Service (EEAS) report, citing “verified facts” from UN bodies and other independent institutions, finds indications that Israel would be in breach of its human-rights obligations under Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, Reuters reported.
Article 2 states that relations “shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles”. The pact, in force since 2000, gives Israel preferential access to the EU market and closer scientific, cultural and political ties.
The EEAS review was launched in May after more than half of EU members backed a proposal by the bloc’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, amid mounting alarm over Gaza’s humanitarian crisis and Israeli military tactics.
“Israel's continued restrictions to the provision of food, medicines, medical equipment, and other vital supplies affect the entire population of Gaza,” the 13-page document says. It details alleged strikes causing heavy civilian casualties, attacks on hospitals, mass displacement and lack of accountability, and also highlights settler violence in the occupied West Bank.
An Israeli official dismissed the draft as “one-sided” and proof of “double standards the EU uses towards Israel”, saying the military campaign complies with international law and aims to destroy Hamas, the group behind the 7 Oct 2023 assault that killed 1,200 people in Israel.
Israel’s subsequent campaign in the Gaza Strip has killed about 55,700 Palestinians and displaced almost the enclave’s entire population of more than two million, according to Gaza’s health ministry, while UN and humanitarian agencies warn that a man-made hunger crisis is looming.
EU ministers, sharply split over how to balance support for Israel’s security with concern for Palestinian civilians, will discuss the findings in Brussels but are not expected to take immediate action, diplomats said.
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Source: Reuters, Politico, Bloomberg