STRASBOURG — The European Parliament on Thursday said the EU should sanction members of the Israeli government and pause payments to the country.
The Parliament’s first common resolution on the situation in Gaza since the attacks by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7 2023 came a day after Ursula von der Leyen said the European Commission would sanction “extremist ministers” and violent settlers, and pause bilateral payments to Israel.
The text — which was adopted with 305 votes in favor, 151 against, and 122 abstentions — also supports von der Leyen’s proposal to partially suspend trade aspects of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
The Parliament called for EU governments to recognize the state of Palestine in view of achieving a two-state solution, and stated it “strongly condemns the obstruction of humanitarian aid to Gaza by the Israeli Government, which has caused a famine in northern Gaza.”
The resolution also includes a demand to carry out an investigation into war crimes and human rights violations, “and for all those responsible to be held to account.”
The Socialists, liberals and Greens agreed on the text on Tuesday, but the center-right European People’s Party — whose votes were essential to reach a majority — had refused to sign off on the wording.
On Thursday morning, just ahead of the vote, the EPP backed the text after scoring concessions from the other groups. They managed to avoid the Parliament declaring the situation in Gaza as a “genocide” and cut any mentions to the situation in Gaza being a “man-made famine.”
The EPP also managed to delete sections of the text that condemned the Commission and EU governments for lack of action.
As the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said on Tuesday, EU governments haven’t been able to come up with a joint strategy on how to put pressure on Israel.
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