Criticism of Israel has grown louder since the letter was sent, and its military onslaught and blockade on Gaza has killed hundreds more Palestinians over the weekend. The leaders of France, the U.K. and Canada all decried what they called “intolerable” suffering in Gaza.
Marc Botenga MEP, The Left Group’s coordinator on the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, welcomed the review of the Israel-EU agreement, but added: “Israel is still receiving arms and public funds from Europe. This full complicity with genocide and ethnic cleansing is outrageous. We need a total arms embargo against Israel now and an immediate cancellation of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.”
Britain on Tuesday halted negotiations on a free trade agreement with Israel.
Israel began its most recent military campaign Gaza in October 2023 after the armed group Hamas took hostages during an attack on an Israeli music festival which led to the deaths of over 1,200 people. The ensuing Israeli operation has laid waste to much of the strip’s housing and crucial infrastructure and killed more than 55,000 Palestinians, according to local authorities.
A May 12 report by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification found that Gaza is at critical risk of famine, with over 93 percent of the population facing crisis levels of food insecurity. The IPC wrote that with the expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza the risk of famine “is not just possible – it is increasingly likely.” Health authorities in Gaza say that Israel killed at least 55 people on Tuesday and over 500 in the last eight days.
Gabriel Gavin, Joe Stanley-Smith and Sasha Schroeder contributed reporting.