The EU will review the association agreement with Israel and investigate whether it complies with human rights.

Brussels / LondonEurope has changed its tone against Benjamin Netanyahu's government. EU diplomat Kaja Kallas has announced that the European Union will review whether Tel Aviv is complying with its human rights obligations in Gaza, as established in the association agreement between the 27 and Israel. This decision comes after pressure from member states has begun to gain momentum in recent days due to the intensification of bombings, the expansion of the occupation of the Gaza Strip, and Israel's blockade of humanitarian aid.

In this way, Kallas has fulfilled a months-long demand from partners considered more pro-Palestinian, such as Spain and Ireland. Even Josep Borrell proposed it at the last EU Council. which he presided over as head of European diplomacy, but it failed miserably, and the initiative only began to gain support a few days ago. In fact, Kallas announced at the start of the meeting of EU foreign ministers that they were going to discuss the special relationship they have with Israel at the request of the Netherlands.

However, Spain, Ireland, Luxembourg, and Slovenia also requested it again by letter on Monday night, according to diplomatic sources told ARA. Finally, seventeen of the 27 EU countries have supported the Dutch request and urged a review of the association agreement. Regarding the extension of sanctions against Jewish settlers in the West Bank, Hungary has vetoed it, according to diplomatic sources.

Kallas herself, who until now has maintained a clearly more pro-Zionist position than Borrell, has also raised her tone against Netanyahu and criticized him for blocking humanitarian aid that "the EU has paid for." "Israel's decision to let in some of the aid is welcome, but not enough. It is a drop in the ocean," the EU leader said at a press conference.

The EU decision came after the joint statement, released Monday night, by French President Emmanuel Macron and the Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and Canada, Keir Starmer and Mark Carney, urging Israel to "halt the renewed military offensive and lift restrictions on the." And, should Benjamin Netanyahu's government continue to ignore them, they have threatened him with reprisals. "We will not hesitate to take further measures, including against individuals," the three leaders warn.

Starmer, who until now had been very reluctant to criticize Israel, explained it in the Westminster Parliament, this Tuesday at noon: "I want to put on record today that we are horrified by Israel's escalation [...] This war has been going on for too long. We cannot allow the people of Gaza to starve." A change of tone that would have been unthinkable a couple of months ago, which has perhaps also been favored by the White House's frustration with Netanyahu's limitless drift.

In fact, London has moved ahead of the other Western countries, although very timidly still. A couple of hours after the intervention of premier, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced this afternoon in a statement to Parliament that he was suspending negotiations with the Israeli government for a new free trade agreement. Lammy stated that bilateral cooperation planned until 2030 would also be reviewed.

Using very harsh language, unusual in the relationship between Westminster and Israel, the British Foreign Secretary justified the decision by the actions of the Netanyahu government in Gaza. "We are entering a new and dark phase of this conflict. The Netanyahu government is planning to displace Gazans from their home to a corner of the southern Strip and allow them only a fraction of the aid they need. Yesterday, Finance Minister [Bezalel] Smotrich even spoke of force—destroying what remains and resettling the Palestinian residents. He said they should be transferred to third countries.

But neither words nor gestures seem to budge Netanyahu an inch. In response to Lammy's announcement, the Foreign Office spokesman assured that external pressure will not "change course" Israel, while accusing the Labour government of "having an anti-Israel obsession."

Separately, Israel's ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, has been summoned for consultations at the Foreign Office, where the Middle East official, Hamish Falconer, will convey that the blockade of humanitarian aid to the Strip is "cruel." London has also announced sanctions against three individuals and four entities linked to the illegal occupation of Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

A large part of British society has been calling, from the beginning of the Israeli intervention in Gaza, for the government to pressure Netanyahu. Finally, London has made some moves. The condemnatory language, in any case, comes too late, not least because of the historical responsibility that the United Kingdom has had for Palestine.

Along the same lines, Macron, Starmer, and Carney, while always supporting Israel's right to defend itself against terrorism, assert in their statement that "this escalation is totally disproportionate." "We will not stand idly by," they add, accusing Israel of perpetrating "outrageous actions." Furthermore, the three leaders call the statements by some members of the Israeli government regarding the "forced displacement of civilians" "hateful" and insist on a two-state solution: "We are determined to recognize a Palestinian state."

Netanyahu cries foul.

Israel's reaction has been swift, accusing Paris, London, and Ottawa of offering Hamas an "immense reward" for the October 7, 2023, attack and "opening the door to more atrocities." Thus, it once again ignored the international community's calls and made it clear that Tel Aviv has no intention of ending the offensive in Gaza "until all hostages are released, Hamas lays down its weapons, its murderous leaders are in exile, and Gaza is demilitarized." On the contrary, it stressed that it "accepts President [Donald] Trump's vision" of the conflict and urged all European leaders to follow in his footsteps and "do the same." The US president's plan to end the conflict is to empty the Strip of Palestinians and turn it into a resort tourist.

In turn, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich went a step further. He accused European leaders of "morally aligning themselves with the terrorist organization [Hamas]" and warned that Israel "will not bow to this moral hypocrisy, anti-Semitism, and bias." "The Israel Defense Forces are the most moral army in the world, and our soldiers are fighting a battle for our very existence," reads a statement from the Israeli government.

However, the Israeli government has not only received criticism from abroad, but also from the domestic opposition. The leader of the main left-wing groups in the country, Yair Golan, has warned Netanyahu that if Israel "does not once again behave like a sensible country," it is on its way to "becoming a pariah state."