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A group of 25 countries has signed a statement demanding an urgent end to Israel’s assault in Gaza — but that only threatened to take “further action,” after a previous threat for further action against Israel by the European Union landed flat last week.
The statement, released Monday, says that Israel’s aid blockade and violence against civilians has “reached new depths” and “must end now.” It was signed by the foreign ministers of numerous EU countries, including Ireland, the U.K., France, and Spain, as well as other major wealthy countries like Australia, Canada and Japan. It was also signed by the EU commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management.
The group specifically criticizes Israel’s plan to create a concentration camp for Palestinians in Gaza, as well as plans to revive an Israeli proposal to split the occupied West Bank in two, known as the E1 plan. The E1 proposal has been touted by Israeli ministers as the way to “effectively kill the Palestinian state,” and rights advocates have warned it would be equivalent to a “new Nakba.”
“Proposals to remove the Palestinian population into a ‘humanitarian city’ are completely unacceptable,” the countries said. “Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law.” The E1 proposal would also be a violation of international law if implemented, the group warned.
However, despite evidence that Israel is moving forward with such proposals, the countries declined to take any action — only threatening to potentially take action in the future.
“We are prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political pathway to security and peace for Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region,” the statement concludes.
The statement comes after a previous pledge by the EU to take action against Israel fell through last week. The EU’s top foreign policy official, Kaja Kallas, said last month that the body would be considering “further measures” if Israel didn’t take steps to improve its humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
These measures would include a suspension of the EU’s trade agreement with Israel, as one of its largest trade partners.
However, humanitarian groups were incensed last week when the EU instead declined to take any of 10 potential sanctions options against Israel — even just one that would “withdraw the trade preferences for Israeli products to enter the EU market.”
“It’s absolutely clear that the failure to act breaches the EU’s own rules. It is legally bound to promote human rights in its external relations, including trade,” Amnesty International secretary-general Agnès Callamard told The Guardian. “This goes beyond a lack of political will. It is, in effect, spitting on your own constitution.”
This failure to act comes despite Israel only worsening the already horrific humanitarian situation in Gaza in the past few weeks, killing hundreds of aid seekers and allowing starvation conditions to reach appalling new lows this week.
Yet, Kallas claimed last week that the EU has seen “some good signs” of aid access in Gaza, seemingly as an excuse for the EU’s decision.
The head of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Jan Egeland, sharply criticized Kallas’s claim in a statement on Saturday.
“[F]or NRC and many others, no relief has entered for 142 days. Not one truck. Not one delivery. For the few actors allowed to bring in limited supplies, the UN reports that from 19 May to 14 July, an average of just 28 trucks per day have been collected for distribution inside Gaza,” Egeland said, noting that even among the trucks that do enter, the vast majority never reach their destination. “This is not access.”
Indeed, human rights groups have said just in recent days that starvation is surging, with at least a third of Palestinians now going days without eating due to Israel’s blockade.
“Calling this ‘good signs’ is not just misleading, it undermines the reality aid workers and civilians face every day,” Egeland said. “This isn’t progress. It’s failure, rebranded.”
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