The European Commission, the European Union’s main executive body, has presented a much anticipated and delayed proposal to “suspend certain trade-related provisions of the Association Agreement between the EU and Israel” in response to Israel’s war on Gaza.
The sanctions, however, do not currently have enough support among the EU’s 27 member countries to pass. The proposals announced on Wednesday also included suggested sanctions on “extremist” Israeli ministers and violent settlers as well as on Hamas.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, urged the member nations to increase tariffs on some Israeli goods and impose sanctions on 10 Hamas leaders, Israeli settlers, and two far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet: National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
The commission also said it was pausing its bilateral support to Israel with the exception of support to civil society and Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center.
“The proposals follow a review of Israel’s compliance with Article 2 of the Agreement, which found that actions taken by the Israeli government represent a breach of essential elements relating to respect for human rights and democratic principles. This entitles the EU to suspend the Agreement unilaterally,” the commission said.
“Specifically, this breach refers to the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza following the military intervention of Israel, the blockade of humanitarian aid, the intensifying of military operations and the decision of the Israeli authorities to advance the settlement plan in the so-called E1 area of the West Bank, which further undermines the two-state solution,” it added.
Credit: aljazeera.com
The post EU proposes suspension of trade concessions with Israel over Gaza war appeared first on The Ghanaian Chronicle.
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