EU chief to push for sanctions on Israel ministers, curb trade ties over Gaza

STRASBOURG (AFP): EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday she would push to sanction “extremist” Israeli ministers and curb trade ties over Gaza, as she warned famine could not be used as a “weapon of war”.

Addressing the European Parliament, von der Leyen lamented that divisions among member states were holding back a European response and said the European Commission she leads “will do all that it can on its own”.

“What is happening in Gaza has shaken the conscience of the world. People killed while begging for food. Mothers holding lifeless babies. These images are simply catastrophic,” von der Leyen said.

“For the sake of the children, for the sake of humanity – this must stop.”

The German politician, 66, said the commission would put its bilateral support to Israel on hold, stopping all payments, but without affecting work with civil society groups and Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.

The European Union’s executive will also propose sanctions on “extremist ministers” – whose actions and words “incite violence” – and “violent settlers”.

It will also push for a partial suspension of an association agreement with Israel on trade-related matters.

But such measures will need approval by the bloc’s 27 member states, which have been deeply divided on how to respond to Israel actions in Gaza.

“I am aware it will be difficult to find majorities,” von der Leyen conceded.

“And I know that any action will be too much for some. Too little for others. But we must all take our own responsibilities”.

Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel sparked the nearly two-year war in Gaza and resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 64,605 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

The United Nations declared famine last month in parts of Gaza, warning that 500,000 people face “catastrophic” conditions.