European Union leaders call for immediate truce in Gaza

The European Council, composed of the heads of state or of government of the 27 E.U. member states, the president of the European Council and the president of the European Commission, called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza on Thursday.

The council, meeting in Brussels, called for a “cease-fire in Gaza and the unconditional release of all hostages, leading to a permanent end to hostilities,” it said in its conclusions issued at an E.U. summit meeting in Brussels where developments in the Middle East were discussed.

The council said it “deplores the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, the unacceptable number of civilian casualties and the levels of starvation. The European Council calls on Israel to fully lift its blockade on Gaza, to allow immediate, unimpeded access and sustained distribution of humanitarian assistance at scale into and throughout Gaza and to enable the U.N. and its agencies, and humanitarian organizations, to work independently and impartially to save lives and reduce suffering,” the conclusions read.

The text continued: “Israel must fully comply with its obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law. The European Council recalls the imperative of ensuring the protection of all civilians, including humanitarian workers, at all times, as well as of civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities, schools and U.N. premises.”

The European Council also deplored “the refusal of Hamas to hand over the remaining hostages.”

The E.U. leaders took note of the review report prepared by the E.U.’s External Service on Israel’s compliance with Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and invited the E.U.’s foreign ministers to continue discussions on a follow-up, as appropriate, in July, taking into account the evolution of the situation on the ground.

The review report concluded that there were “indications” that Israel was in breach of its human rights obligations under Article 2 of the Association Agreement with its actions in Gaza.

The Association Agreement

At a meeting of the E.U. foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, E.U. foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced that she would address the report results with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. 

The E.U. foreign ministers will discuss the topic again in July to see if they decide to take measures against Israel.

“Our first goal is to change the situation on the ground [in Gaza] and help the humanitarian aid get in and help the people. So today was the beginning of the debate and not the end,” Kallas told reporters after the ministerial meeting.

“If the situation does not improve, then we can also discuss further measures and come back to this at the next Foreign Affairs Council in July,” she said.

The review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement was decided in May after a majority of E.U. member states supported a proposal of Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp.

In a letter to Kallas, Sa’ar requested to shelve the report prepared by the E.U. on Article 2 of the Association Agreement, writing: “In the name of fairness, the flaws in the composition of the report should be addressed and it should be completely disregarded.”

The report, he continued, “completely ignores our detailed answers to the questions submitted to us.”

During the Article 2 review process, the E.U. submitted a series of question to Israel. In its answers to the questions, the Israeli foreign ministry recalled the “strategic reality Israel is facing: since October 7, Israel has been fighting a war on seven fronts. Iran, with its extremist ideology, is aiming to eliminate the State of Israel. Iran’s regime has long pursued the annihilation of the Jewish state through a nuclear program, ballistic missiles, and a network of terrorist proxies like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

“This plan erupted violently on October 7, when Hamas massacred 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped hundreds, marking the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust,” the ministry added.

“It is against this backdrop—Israel’s combat with a host of brutal enemies—that the E.U. was tasked with doing a ‘rush job,’ compiling a biased and extremely one-sided summary of many anti-Israeli voices and documents into a so-called ‘honest report’ for the member states of the E.U.’’