EU’s 27 countries struggle to find a united voice on Gaza

For protesters waving Palestinian flags outside the European Union buildings in Brussels, the moment when everything might change.

A report by the European Union submitted to the foreign ministers found that there are indications that Israel has violated human rights obligations under the European Union Convention on Israel, before the European Union leaders summit on Thursday.

The European Union is the largest commercial partner for Israel, and the demonstrators were demanding the 25 -year -old commercial affiliation to the actions of Israel in Gaza.

But their hopes that the leaders of the European Union will agree to suspend the agreement with Israel soon, despite the remaining report of the war in Gaza.

The demonstrators have been supported by more than 100 NGOs and charities.

Within 20 months of Israeli military operations, more than 55,000 Ghazan were killed, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health. Another 1.9 million people were displaced.

Israel also imposed comprehensive stakes on the humanitarian delivery operations for aid to Gaza at the beginning of March, which fell partially after 11 weeks after pressure from the allies and warnings of international experts who face half a million people.

Since then, the United Nations says more than 400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli shooting or bombing while trying to reach the food distribution centers run by an American and Israeli organization supporting it. According to 90 others were killed by the Israeli forces while trying to approach the United Nations convoys and other relief groups.

“Each red line was crossed in Gaza,” Agnes Petrand Sanz from Oxfam to the BBC.

“Each rule has been breached. It is really time for the European Union.”

With the publication of the report, Kaja Callas head decreased to the head of foreign policy to explain what the European Union will do after that.

She said that the first goal of the European Union is to “change the situation” on the ground in Gaza. If not, “other procedures” will be discussed next month on how to suspend the association’s agreement.

“We will communicate with Israel, as you know, we have discovered our discovery,” has stumbled in an unusual way. “Because this is the axis of member states, to learn … Be very sure of the feelings we have here.”

NGOs said that the European Union had missed an opportunity to take action and that the response was weak.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry described the review “a complete moral and systematic failure.”

For some European Union critics, this episode was a vital example of how the European Union can speak a good game about being the largest donor with global humanitarian aid in Gaza, but it is strongly struggling to provide any firm or strong voice to match it.

As the largest market in the world includes 450 million people, the European Union carries a great economic weight, but it does not translate into political influence.

“The fact that European countries and the United Kingdom are not making more effort to pressure Israel and to enforce international humanitarian law, it makes it very difficult for these countries to be reliable,” said Olivier de Shutter, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights.

“War crimes are committed very widely in Gaza, there is a discussion about whether this is up to genocide, but even if there is no genocide, there is an obligation to act.”

De Shutter fears the loss of the soft power of the European Union and that its inaction makes it very difficult to persuade countries in Africa, and Asia in Latin America to support Europe when condemning the Russian war in Ukraine, for example.

Israel maintains that it is working within international law and that its mission is to destroy Hamas and bring the remaining hostages who took when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. About 1,200 people were killed in the attack, which led to Israel’s attack on Gaza.

As a union for 27 countries, the local political reality in Europe makes it unlikely that European Union leaders will support the opinions of the majority of member states in Gaza.

Eleven countries in the European Union have recognized Palestine as a country, including Ireland, Spain, Belgium, Slovenia and Sweden in order to suspend the European Union’s agreement with Israel.

At the heart of decision -making in the European Union’s foreign policy in Brussels is the fact that decisions should be unanimously, so only one voice can prevent the European Union from making action.

In this case, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic oppose.

Austria hopes that the European Union review will raise procedures, but not necessarily suspending the treaty with Israel.

“All I heard in this regard will not help people in Gaza,” said Foreign Minister Peter Mainel Resinger. “What might cause it is a deterioration, if not a complete collapse of the dialogue we currently possess with Israel.”

Germany’s position was often formed in Israel through its role in the Holocaust and World War II.

“The current level of attacks on Gaza can no longer be justified by the fight against Hamas,” said Counselor Friedrich Mirz.

Slovakia and Hungary are more closely compatible with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu than many other European Union countries.

Among the main players who defend strict measures against the Netanyahu government are Ireland.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Simon Harris, condemned the treatment of the European Union for review.

“Our response was very slow, and many people have left to die with the implementation of the genocide,” he said.

Israel rejects the accusation of genocide and when it closed its embassy in Dublin last December, Ireland was accused of anti -Semitism.

Europe recently found itself in Washington on major global issues, especially Ukraine and Iran – with President Donald Trump in favor of direct talks with Vladimir Putin and Russia Netanyahu’s program.

The United States may not be in the mood of listening, but in Gaza, the European Union struggled to mobilize a unified voice on Gaza, not to mention this.

Participated in additional reports by Bruno Boelbebab, the Upper European producer.