(November 16, 2024)
„Cutting off dialogue with Israel does not benefit the people suffering in the Gaza Strip, the hostages of Hamas, nor the people in Israel who are ready for dialogue,“ said a statement from the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin.
It was reported from Berlin that the EU-Israel Association Council is creating an „appropriate framework“ to discuss with the Israeli government the respect of the principles of international humanitarian law, they write.
“We know that there are tragic events in Gaza, huge civilian casualties, but we do not forget who started the current cycle of violence,” Sikorski said in Brussels. “And I can tell you that there was no agreement on the idea of suspending negotiations with Israel.”
Diplomats said the politicians who did not support Borrell‘s initiative at the meeting included foreign ministers from Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and the Netherlands.
(November 16, 2024)
What we see of the tragedy of Gaza is however only the tip of the iceberg since the strip has been sealed. There are hardly any journalists or international observers entering Gaza since more than one year. It is the longest information blackout ever imposed by a democratic state. In addition, there are reasons to believe that journalists have been targeted by Israeli Defence Forces. To this day more than 130 have been killed.
This pattern at play for too long in Gaza, is now being replicated elsewhere. In South Lebanon, some 30 villages have been obliterated – not as a result of heavy combat, but in a controlled way, posted on social media. In the West Bank, extremist settlers‘ violence is forcing many Palestinian farmers and herders off their land. Uprooted olive trees, killed or stolen livestock and torched vehicles, have become part of daily reality in many rural communities. Israeli airstrikes in Jenin and Tulkarem, the first in more than two decades, have added to the destruction of civilian infrastructure left behind by bulldozers earlier this year.
Paris, 12 March 2024. Respect for human rights is an essential element of the EU’s association agreements with partner countries. Article 2 states that „relations between the Parties, as well as all the provisions of the Agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles, which guides their internal and international policy and constitutes an essential element of this Agreement“. Violation of the so-called „essential elements“ clauses allows the EU to denounce or suspend the agreements in whole or in part under Article 60 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. In the light of the deaths and suffering endured by the Palestinian people, the European Union has the duty and the means to act to prevent Israel’s crimes in Gaza and to reduce the extent of human suffering.
(November 14, 2024)
A political legacy on the part of the EU diplomacy chief, who has come to the end of his term, but one that is unlikely to be seized upon by the 27: for any amendment to the Association Agreement that governs EU-Israel relations, the rule of unanimity is required.
To All Governments
– Publicly condemn Israel’s forced displacement of the civilian population in Gaza as a war crime and crime against humanity, as well as other violations of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and international criminal law by Israeli authorities, and urge them to immediately halt those crimes and cooperate with international judicial bodies and investigative mechanisms.
– Increase public and private pressure on the Israeli government to stop violating international humanitarian law in the conduct of hostilities, to fully comply with its obligations and the binding orders and advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice, and to ensure the entry and safe distribution throughout Gaza of adequate aid and provision of basic services. Consider, in that regard, the review and possible suspension of bilateral agreements with Israel, such as the EU-Israel Association Agreement, as proposed by the governments of Spain and Ireland, and the US-Israel Free Trade Agreement.
– Suspend military assistance and arms sales to Israel so long as its forces commit violations of international humanitarian law with impunity.
– Enforce domestic legislation limiting the transfer of arms and military assistance for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.
– Publicly support the International Criminal Court, uphold the court’s independence, and publicly condemn efforts to intimidate or interfere with its work, officials, and those cooperating with the institution.
– Urge the Government of Israel to grant access to independent, international monitors, including from the UN Special Procedures.
– Impose targeted sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, against Israeli officials credibly implicated in ongoing serious violations, for the purpose of ending these violations.
– Address long-standing impunity by Israeli authorities and Palestinian armed groups for serious crimes under international law, and support reparations for all victims of gross human rights abuses.
– Support the creation of a register of damages, caused by unlawful Israeli action to persons in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, for the purposes of calculating reparations.
(…)
To the Prosecutor of the International Crimin19al Court
– Investigate Israeli authorities’ forced displacement and prevention of the right to return as a crime against humanity.
For a year now, since the war began, the international community has shown utter impotence to stop the indiscriminate attack on civilians in the Gaza Strip. Now, when it is clearer than ever that Israel intends to forcibly displace northern Gaza’s residents by committing some of the gravest crimes under the laws of war, the world’s nations must take action.
Without immediate, decisive action from the international community, without using every tool available – political, legal, economic – the mass killings in the northern Gaza Strip will continue and the suffering of its besieged civilians will grow. All international bodies and institutions must act now to compel Israel to stop the war and end the carnage.
Spain and Ireland are asking EU countries to suspend the EU–Israel Association Agreement on the basis that Israel may be breaching the agreement’s human rights clause.
“The European Commission must respond once and for all to the formal request made by two European countries to suspend the association agreement with Israel if it is found, as everything suggests, that human rights are being violated,” Sanchez told an event on Monday in Barcelona.
The agreement stipulates that free trade between the EU and Israel must be “based on respect for human rights and democratic principles.”
“Appalled by the scale of the ongoing massacre in Lebanon,” Jean-Luc Melenchon, a left-wing French politician and a former Member of the European Parliament, said in a post on X.
“Netanyahu is violating the sovereignty of states throughout the region with the complicity of Europe and the USA. The genocide in Gaza is spreading without limits.”
Paris, 12 March 2024. Respect for human rights is an essential element of the EU’s association agreements with partner countries. Article 2 states that „relations between the Parties, as well as all the provisions of the Agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles, which guides their internal and international policy and constitutes an essential element of this Agreement“. Violation of the so-called „essential elements“ clauses allows the EU to denounce or suspend the agreements in whole or in part under Article 60 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. In the light of the deaths and suffering endured by the Palestinian people, the European Union has the duty and the means to act to prevent Israel’s crimes in Gaza and to reduce the extent of human suffering.
(August 26, 2024)
Our organizations are writing to request that the European Union take action against the Israeli authorities’ unprecedented killing of journalists and other violations of media freedom, in contravention of Israel’s human rights and international humanitarian law (IHL) obligations. These are part of widespread and systematic abuses committed by Israeli authorities in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and elsewhere, as documented or acknowledged by Israeli, Palestinian and international NGOs, UN experts, the International Court of Justice, and in a request for arrest warrants by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. These violations should trigger the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and further EU targeted
sanctions against those responsible. Regrettably, the EU 27 governments are yet to unanimously acknowledge, attribute, and condemn the Israeli forces’ crimes in Gaza.
“It is time to move from verbal condemnations to action. Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement stipulates that their relations are based on an essential component, which is respect for human rights and democratic principles. The Israeli government is clearly trampling on this article. The EU, which is Israel’s leading trade partner, must draw the necessary conclusions from this and must do everything to ensure that the Netanyahu government stops massacring journalists and respects the right to information and press freedom by opening media access to Gaza. The credibility of the EU is at stake.“
„In response to the unprecedented number of journalists killed and other repeated press freedom violations by the Israeli authorities since the start of the war with Hamas, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and 59 other organisations are calling on the European Union to suspend its Association Agreement with Israel and to adopt targeted sanctions against those responsible“, the groups said in a joint statement.
The call came ahead of a meeting by EU foreign ministers in Brussels on 29 August.
In an urgent appeal, 60 global press freedom and human rights organizations, including the International Press Institute (IPI), are calling on the European Union to take decisive action against Israel for its escalating violations of media freedom and killing of journalists. In a letter addressed to EU leaders, the signatories urge the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and the imposition of targeted sanctions on responsible Israeli officials.