The EU welcomed the reopening of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt earlier this week. Meanwhile, Israeli authorities are blocking many NGOs from delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza, raising concerns over violations of the agreed peace plan. Will the EU take a stand on these human rights breaches?

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The EU has celebrated the reopening of the Rafah crossing point between Gaza and Egypt on Monday.

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities are preventing many NGOs from providing humanitarian aid in Gaza — a move which violates the agreed peace plan.

Will the EU confront Israel over human rights breaches?

Since the first phase of the peace plan in Gaza at the end of last year, Israel has continued military activity in Gaza, which has led to the deaths of around 500 Palestinians, according to different sources.

While the city of Gaza has been completely destroyed, the population is in a dire situation. Medical care and food are desperately needed.

However, since the beginning of January, Israel has required international NGOs to disclose personal details over the staff. The authorities also want to be able to object to the access for certain individual staffers.

Large organisations such as Doctors Without Borders or ActionAid have refused to comply with the rules, stating that such disclosure puts their staff in danger and that it would create a dangerous precedent. So they have been banned from entering the Gaza Strip since the 1st of January.

When asked about this situation, the EU expressed concerns.

“The EU has been stressing how crucial it is to consolidate the current fragile ceasefire and avoid further casualties.”

Anouar El Anouni, the EU’s spokesperson for external affairs, also stated that the registration process for NGOs is a “significant obstacle to humanitarian aid delivery in Gaza.”

The EU has already expressed its concerns to Israel and is engaging closely on this matter, he added.

But this continued engagement, which has been ongoing since the beginning of the conflict in 2023 — hasn’t delivered many results.

So, what are the options for Europeans?

Over the past two years, the EU has not only condemned Israel’s human rights violations but has also imposed sanctions targeting extremist Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. 

Then, following pressure from the European Parliament and from society at large, the European Commission proposed to sanction members of the Israeli government, and to suspend the existing partnership between the EU and Israel.

The most direct effect of such a suspension would be to halt free trade between the two parties.

 But it would also carry strong symbolic weight. The EU would clearly be stating: “I will not tolerate a country that no longer respects international law.”

The final decision to suspend the so-called association agreement was, however, not put to a vote, and the question was put on hold after the peace agreement in Gaza was signed in October 2025.

This was actually a blessing for EU countries that were highly divided over the issue.

Now, with multiple violations of the peace plan over the past four months, many actors are asking the EU to take that suspension option out of the freezer.

Just on Monday, a group of 400 former EU ambassadors and former government members from 15 EU countries denounced Israel’s disregard for the peace plan and called on the EU to take further action.

The response from the EU’s chief diplomat, Kaja Kallas, is that she is already engaging personally with Israeli authorities to make sure they abide by their obligations.

But in the end, the EU doesn’t have much leverage to influence the situation. Its action is also limited by the need for consensus among its member states, which, in the case of Israel, is almost out of reach.

Besides, the relationship with Israel needs to be handled carefully, not least because of its role in the Middle East, a region that is now under the threat of a potential violent conflict.