Spain and Ireland have asked the European Commission (EC) to investigate whether Israel, with its military intervention in the Gaza Strip, is violating the Association Agreement it has in force with the European Union, “which makes respect of human rights and democratic principles an essential element of the relationship”.
In a letter addressed to the President of the EC, Ursula von der Leyen, the Spanish President, Pedro Sánchez, and the Irish Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, request the high European institution to assess whether the Israeli government is in breach of the obligations agreed in the pact. If these violations were committed, they add, they urge the Council of Europe to “take the appropriate measures” against Israel, the signatories say, without specifying which ones.
The Association Agreement between Israel and the European Union, in force since 2000, is a bilateral agreement that details the legal framework that governs the “political dialogue and economic cooperation” between the two parties. According to the document, the relationship between the signatories “is based on respect for human rights and democratic principles”, which “constitutes an essential element” of the pact.
“The EU’s commitment to human rights and dignity cannot have exceptions”, warned Sánchez in the message published on social networks in which he disseminated the joint letter.
President Sánchez and Taoiseach Varadkar head the missive expressing deep concern for the “impact that the current conflict is having on innocent Palestinians, especially children and women”. “The expansion of the Israeli military operation in the Rafah area poses a serious and imminent threat that the international community must face urgently”, continue the two leaders, with reference to the plans announced by Israel to attack the city of southern Gaza and its surroundings, where one and a half million Palestinians are staying, the vast majority displaced.
This is the first public call by two EU member countries for Brussels to review its relationship with Israel due to the war it is waging in Gaza after suffering the attack by Hamas on October 7. In the text, Spain and Ireland condemn the “terrorist attacks by Hamas” and demand the “immediate release of the hostages” held in Gaza. But, while they recognize Israel’s right to defend itself, they remember that “it can only be exercised in accordance with international law, including international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law. The response must comply with the principles of distinction, proportionality and caution”, says the text.
Spain and Ireland also recall that the measures imposed by the International Court of Justice in the case brought by South Africa against Israel under the Genocide Convention are “binding orders”. These demanded that the Israeli government provide basic services and humanitarian assistance to Gaza because they are urgently needed. In addition, the two leaders demand “urgently an immediate humanitarian ceasefire”, a position which, as they recall, was endorsed by a “large majority at the United Nations General Assembly in December, including 17 EU members.
The two leaders also state that the EU must maintain support for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, thirteen of whose members have been accused of taking part in the attacks on 7 October, and stress its “vital task of saving lives and dealing with the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza”.
According to the European Commission, the EU is Israel’s largest trading partner, whose goods accounted for 28.8% of its trade in 2022. That same year, 31.9% of Israel’s imports Israel came from the EU and 25.6% of the country’s exports went to the EU bloc. Israel, on the other hand, is the EU’s twenty-fifth trading partner, accounting for 0.8% of its total trade in goods. Among the products most exchanged by the signatory parties (in value) machinery, transport and chemical products stand out.
Through its spokesmen, yesterday the Commission indicated that it had received the letter, which will be “analysed”, urged “all parties to end the violence” and called on Israel to respect “international law” and to “protect all civilians”.
The letter sent by the executives from Madrid and Dublin comes at a time of growing international pressure on Israel and the stated aim of extending its ground and air offensive, which has killed more than 28,000 and more, towards the southern city of Rafah of 67,000 wounded in the strip, according to Gaza health authorities. Rafah is the only refuge left in the enclave, but “no place is safe in Gaza”, according to the words of the UN Secretary General quoted in the letter.
The extremely serious situation that has been experienced in Gaza for more than four months led on Monday the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, to raise the need for countries to stop sending weapons to Israel.
As for the United States, its government has shown in recent days the rejection of Israel’s intentions to attack Rafah without first having a safe evacuation plan for civilians, while persisting in the desire to negotiate a truce with Hamas in Cairo. On the other hand, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, shows no signs of giving up and has promised a total victory against the Islamist group.
For his part, the Palestinian president, Mahmud Abbas, yesterday asked “Hamas to quickly conclude an agreement on the prisoners”, to avoid “another exodus” of the Palestinian people, as quoted by the Palestinian agency Wafa. Based in the West Bank, the Abbas government, a political rival of Hamas, is not participating in the truce negotiations. Many Palestinians accuse the Palestinian Authority of passivity in the face of the war in Gaza.
In the strip, yesterday morning, Israeli bombardments killed at least 104 people, mostly women and children, according to official sources from the Ministry of Health of the Hamas movement.
