EU foreign policy chief proposes to suspend political dialogue with Israel

The EU foreign policy chief has proposed to formally suspend political dialogue with Israel over its disregard for international law in the Gaza Strip.

“After a year of unheeded pleas by the Israeli authorities regarding respect for international law in the Gaza war, we cannot continue with business as usual,” Josep Borrell said in a blog post on Friday.

"This is why I have proposed to EU Member States to ban imports from illegal settlements and to suspend the political dialog with Israel. We will discuss these measures at the Foreign Affairs Council next week."

The political dialogue is part of a broader agreement on relations between the EU and Israel, including closer economic relations, that entered into force in June 2000. A suspension would need approval from all 27 EU countries.

Borrell, whose five-year term ends on Dec. 1, said people in Gaza "are running out of everything" and in many parts of the enclave "there is almost nothing that could sustain organised human life."

"Northern Gaza, once home to more than one million people, has been emptied completely after several weeks of relentless shelling, destroying the last remaining health centres, shelters and schools," he said.

Borrell warned that the pattern at play in Gaza was now being replicated in the West Bank and Lebanon by Israel.

“To heed international humanitarian law, to comply with binding orders of the International Court of Justice, to ensure humanitarian access, to agree to President Biden's ceasefire proposal, to allow international journalists and UN-mandated investigators to enter Gaza… Looking back, the list of pleas that fell on deaf ears in Israel is now too long to recount,” the EU official said.

Israel has killed more than 43,000 people in Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks. The actions have triggered a humanitarian disaster and an ongoing trial over alleged genocide at the International Court of Justice.

- ‘Meaningful consequences' for Israel

Borrell argued that upholding the “rules-based world order starts by applying its rules without distinction,” and in other situations where these international rules are routinely violated, there have been visa bans, terrorist listings, import restrictions and economic sanctions.

Until now, however, Israel has been spared from any “meaningful consequences,” he said.

“This has to change. This is why I have proposed an import ban on illegal settlement products, based on the recent advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice … ,” the EU official said.

He said he also requested to the EU special representative for human rights for an assessment of Israel's compliance with its Association Agreement with the EU.