The European Union continues not to want to suspend the association agreement with Israel, despite the clear violations of international humanitarian law by the Aviv army in Gaza. One (not) decision that was defined by Amnesty International “one of the most shameful moments in EU history”.
Today the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels met, which was to discuss, among other things, the partial suspension of the agreement with Israel, perhaps on the parties concerning trade, to put pressure on the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to put an end to the violence of the attacks in the strip, where over 58 thousand Palestinians were killed, and where the humanitarian situation is increasingly catastrophic.
“Don’t punish Israel”
“The goal is not to punish Israel, it is really improving the situation in Gaza,” said the high EU representative for foreign policy, Kaja Kallas, at the end of the meeting. The former premier Estono claimed that last week Brussels and Tel Aviv “reached an agreement for the expansion of humanitarian aid in Gaza”, an agreement which however is not leading to concrete results, as admitted by the European Commission itself.
“Our requests were very clear: number of trucks, entry point, crossing points, fuel, etc. we presented these proposals, which were accepted by the Israeli authorities. Now, five days later, the situation is that the agreement is far from being fully implemented,” said the commissioner for the management of crises, Hadja Lahbib.
After the revision of the agreement conducted by the Community EXECUTIVE, recognized that there are violations of Article Due of the Agreement Si Associazione, which prescribes compliance with humanitarian law, “the logical thing for Spain is to proceed with the suspension of that agreement until this situation persists”, asked the foreign minister José Manuel Albares Bueno, arriving to the EU Council. The representative of Madrid then indicated as “positive” anything “breaks the inhuman block imposed by Israel in Gaza”.
“Shameful moment”
But among the countries there are still different ones who do not want to take any initiative against Israel, and among these there are very influential governments such as those of Germany and Italy. “The refusal of the European Union to suspend its agreement with Israel is a cruel and illegal betrayal of the European vision and project, based on respect for international law and on the fight against authoritarian practices, the same rules of the European Union and the human rights of the Palestinians. This will be remembered as one of the most shameful moments in the history of the European Union”, denounced AGNès Calmard, general secretary of Amnesty. International.
“Here we are beyond political cowardice. Every time the European Union does not act, the risk of complicity in Israel’s actions grows. Thus an extremely dangerous message is sent to the authors of atrocious crimes: they will not only remain unpunished, but will be rewarded,” he added.
Catastrophic situation in Gaza
Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in the strip is increasingly serious with one in 10 children who are malnourished and humanitarian aid that are not even remotely sufficient for the needs of the civilian population. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also denounced that he has recorded at least 875 killings of civilians in the last six weeks at the rescue points in Gaza managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, supported by the United States and Israel, and in the convoys managed by other rescue groups, including the United Nations.
