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Brussels – The countries of the European Union agreed on Monday to request a meeting of the EU-Israel Association Council to address with that country the respect for human rights according to its obligations in that framework of relations.
“Finally, the ministers have agreed to request an Association Council with Israel, something that was not accepted in previous discussions,” announced the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, at a press conference at the end of a Council of EU Foreign Ministers.
The twenty-seven addressed the situation in Gaza as a priority on their agenda, on the same day that an Israeli bombing in a displaced persons camp in Rafah caused fifty deaths, news that has “horrified” the European ministers, Borrell assured.
So far, the member states had not supported the High Representative’s proposal to convene that meeting with Israel within the framework of the agreement that regulates their bilateral relations.
But the head of EU diplomacy stressed that there is now the “necessary unanimity” to request an Association Council with Israel in order to discuss the situation in Gaza and “respect for human rights under the obligations that Israel has assumed in the Association Council and how they plan to implement the decision of the International Court of Justice.”
He was referring to the UN court’s order that Israel immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah in the face of the risk of genocide.
Borrell regretted that, since the publication of the ICJ ruling, “not only has the military activity not been stopped, but rather it has increased,” as has the number of civilian casualties.
At a press conference, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares assured that “Spain is a country that bets on multilateralism but, above all, bets on respect for international legality.”
“Much more so when it comes to an institution like the International Court of Justice, which is a fundamental and foundational body of the United Nations Charter,” said Albares on the eve of Spain, Ireland, and Norway recognizing the State of Palestine.
Borrell made clear the EU’s condemnation of the recent rocket attacks by the Islamist group Hamas against Israel, but at the same time reiterated three requests to the Hebrew country.
Specifically, to implement the ICJ decision, stop blocking funding for the Palestinian Authority, and allow the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) to carry out its work.
“We cannot afford the suffocation of the Palestinian Authority by an indiscriminate action of the Government (of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu. Because from now on, I will not say Israel, I will say the Netanyahu Government, because it is this Government that makes these decisions,” Borrell indicated. (May 27)