Europe must not let Gaza become the graveyard of international law and human rights.
Amid mounting concern about the remorseless attacks by Israel against the civilian population in Gaza, which, since October 7, 2023, have reportedly led to the deaths and injuries of over 227,000 Palestinians and the displacement, in the last two weeks, of more than 400,000 people, 325 former European Union and Member State Ambassadors and Senior Officials are calling for urgent action.
We strongly urge the EU to immediately impose targeted sanctions on the Israeli government and suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement. In addition, we urge the President of the United Nations General Assembly and the Chair of the United Nations Security Council to convene emergency meetings of both bodies to adopt sanctions against Israel for the multiple violations of international law being perpetrated daily against the people of Palestine. The United Nations, being the established global body for peace and security, must live up to its responsibilities.
We cannot stand idly by, watching Gaza reduced to rubble and its inhabitants driven into destitution and starvation. The issue is whether the EU and like-minded nations will stand up for basic humanity and for the values that underpin the post-war international order. Action needs to be taken urgently to preserve life, end the military onslaught in Gaza, secure the return of all hostages, and move to governance arrangements that allow for a swift return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza as a necessary step towards a unified and democratically elected Palestinian government.
We demand that EU leaders respond urgently to the fact that, in recent days, the actions of the Israeli army have escalated to another level, with the bombardment of Gaza City in pursuit of the openly declared Israeli government policy of clearing the population out of the city and forcing the displacement of a million and a half people within or even outside the territory.
In addition, an engineered, man-made famine is unfolding in Gaza, already affecting 500,000 people. Severe malnutrition is rife, and more than 130 children have starved to death, despite the International Court of Justice’s provisional findings in February 2024 in the case brought against Israel, which required all States to take action to ensure that adequate humanitarian supplies reach Gaza. Finally, Israel has blatantly ignored the United Nations General Assembly Resolution of September 18, 2024 calling for an end to its illegal occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, instead doubling down by annexing additional swathes of Palestinian territory.
While noting the European Commission’s newly announced proposals for limited measures against Israel, our conviction is that the EU’s institutions and its Member States must act far more decisively to uphold international law and protect human rights, notably by suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement, ceasing the export and import of arms and military equipment, banning imports from Israel’s illegal settlements, restricting access to EU co-financed programmes, and urging Israel’s other key trade partners, including in the Global South, to follow suit. They must also impose immediate targeted sanctions on Israel’s political and military leadership and all those complicit in and responsible for war crimes, ensuring accountability.
In addition, we urge the 13 EU Member States that have not yet done so to join both the 147 UN Member States who have already recognised the State of Palestine, and those who have announced they will do so at the ongoing United Nations General Assembly meeting, including France, Belgium, Malta, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Furthermore, the EU must demonstrate political and diplomatic leadership within all UN bodies and in partnerships with the Global South, Arab States and regional powers, to pressure Israel into compliance with its international obligations.
It must also support and strengthen the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, the key platform for a sustainable political solution allowing Palestinians and Israelis to coexist in peace and security, and demand that the US rescind decisions preventing official representatives of Palestine and the UN from engaging in dialogue at the United Nations General Assembly.
The heinous attacks of 7 October 2023 by Hamas and others against Israeli citizens, along with the continuing detention of hostages, can never justify the retribution wreaked on Gaza, which is becoming the graveyard of international law and universal human rights. Reckless military assaults of the type committed by Israel on the sovereign territory of Qatar, a key player in ceasefire talks, together with the lack of effective action, will condemn generations of both Palestinians and Israelis to perpetual suffering and continue to destabilise the region and beyond. It is incumbent on all of us, as global citizens, to demand from our leaders nothing less than the full application of international law. The time to act is now.
The full list of signatories of this letter can be viewed here.
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