The European Commission is ready to suspend trade ties and halt a research partnership with Israel but national governments are impeding further steps, according to the EU’s top diplomat.
“Our options for more action are clear and remain on the table, but member states disagree on how to get the Israeli government to change course,” Kaja Kallas said Tuesday during a debate in the European Parliament. “We cannot move as a Union until member states share the same view on what to do.”
The EU has been hopelessly deadlocked on whether to sanction Israel over its ongoing war in Gaza, with Spain and Belgium unilaterally moving to impose tough measures, while countries including Germany and Hungary have been more reluctant to target Israel.
Kallas said that the EU came up with an “inventory” of possible options to put pressure on the Israeli government — including a proposal to halt trade ties and suspend the country’s participation in the research and innovation fund Horizon — but added that “there is no unity on what should come next.”
“There have been some positive developments, 2,904 trucks have entered between 10th of July and 1st of September,” Kallas said, “not a single truck entered [the] Gaza Strip from March to July.”
“I believe we must continue diplomatic efforts with Israel because we cannot get anywhere if we do not talk,” she said.
The EU’s foreign policy chief has previously condemned Israel’s blocking of aid for civilians in Gaza, accusing the country of undermining “decades of humanitarian principles.”
In June, Kallas also hit back at lawmakers’ accusations of inaction, arguing that it’s difficult to move quickly toward tougher action because she needs unanimity among EU governments.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes and shootings following an attack by Hamas militants on Israel that killed some 1,200 people, most of them civilians.
On Saturday, Israeli authorities told Gaza City residents to flee to what it said to be a humanitarian zone in the south of the coastal enclave, as the Israel Defense Forces prepare to take over Gaza City.
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