Brussels, Belgium – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday said Gaza was in a “catastrophic situation of genocide” and urged the European Union to immediately suspend its cooperation deal with Israel.
Speaking to reporters at an EU summit in Brussels, Sanchez mentioned a recent human rights review by the bloc’s diplomatic service which, he said, addressed “the catastrophic situation of genocide unfolding in Gaza”.
The report published last week found “indications” that Israel was breaching its human rights obligations under the cooperation deal which forms the basis for its trade ties with the EU.
The text cited Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territory, the high number of civilian casualties, attacks on journalists and the massive displacement and destruction caused by the war.
Sanchez said it was “more than obvious” that Israel was violating its obligations and that the bloc should suspend the cooperation deal “immediately”.
“It makes no sense” that the bloc has imposed 18 rounds of sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine but, “in a double standard, is not even capable of suspending an association deal”, he added.
Suspending the EU-Israel accord outright would require unanimity among member states, something diplomats see as virtually impossible due to divisions within the bloc.
At the summit in Brussels divided EU leaders ended up kicking the can down the road on discussions about taking any action against Israel over Gaza.
Leaders said in a statement that they “took note” of the EU report and called for more “discussions on a follow-up, as appropriate, in July 2025, taking into account the evolution of the situation on the ground.”
The Gaza war began after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Palestinian militants also seized 251 hostages, with 49 still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 56,156 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable.
