Oh please, spare us the bleeding hearts on Gaza

The European Union’s foreign ministers could not agree how to sanction Israel for its actions in Gaza deemed to be a breach of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. 

The 27 foreign ministers had in front of them a list of 10 options last week on how to respond to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The options included the suspension of visa-free travel and the blocking of imports from the Jewish settlements. 

Instead, the foreign ministers agreed to “keep a close watch” on Israel’s compliance with a recent agreement to improve humanitarian aid access in Gaza. 

Meanwhile, Israel continues to kill Palestinians queuing for food at aid stations managed by its own military. Palestinian children in Gaza continue to suffer malnutrition and hunger. People continue being displaced from one bombed out city to another, from one razed neighbourhood to another. 

Israel is using hunger as a tool of war. A genocide continues to unfold in front of our very own eyes. 

And yet, the best the EU could come up with was to ‘keep a close watch’ on Israel to see whether it will increase the number of trucks and distribution of food entering Gaza. What a joke! 

If the EU, particularly its member states, are unable to even see the humanitarian disaster being perpetrated in Gaza and the blatant human rights violations taking place, and act on them in a meaningful way, it is no wonder the bloc is perceived as weak. 

The bloc’s reaction to what is happening in Gaza does not match the high-sounding words of wanting the EU to be a global player that carries weight. 

This inability to decide, even in the face of what has been confirmed to be a breach of the EU-Israel association agreement, is precisely why Israel does not even look at the EU as a relevant power broker. 

Within this context, there is nothing that prevents the individual member states to go down their own paths and take measures to ostracise those in the Israeli administration who are responsible for perpetuating the Gaza genocide. 

Malta, within its limitations, must not shy away from taking a tough stand against Israel. It’s not enough to express concern and anger at the loss of life in Gaza; it’s not enough to show solidarity by offering to host injured Palestinians; it’s not enough to speak about peace in an abstract way. Malta must also point its finger at those who are causing this destruction and loss of life in Gaza by calling out Israel. Anything less, will make Malta just as complacent as Germany, Hungary, Czechia—Israel’s closest allies in the EU—in closing an eye to the suffering of Palestinians. 

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general, described the EU’s refusal to suspend the agreement with Israel as “a cruel and unlawful betrayal” of the European project built on upholding international law and fighting authoritarian practices, of the EU’s own rules and of the human rights of Palestinians. 

She added: “This will be remembered as one of the most disgraceful moments in the EU’s history.” 

She is right. At the moment of need, the EU has turned its back on the Palestinians and while it sits on the fence, many more innocent lives continue to be lost. And Malta is as guilty as the rest unless the indignation expressed by Prime Minister Robert Abela and Deputy Prime Minister Ian Borg are translated into concrete action. 

But we are not surprised by this attitude from Malta’s leaders. 

The Abela administration has been unable to even take the step to recognise Palestine as a state—a largely symbolic move that will have no appreciable impact on the ground in Gaza—despite promising to do so more than a year ago, let alone decide on a harsher approach to sanction Israel’s top brass, push for an arms embargo and be more vocal in Brussels. 

Malta should be more proactive in seeking cooperation with Spain, Ireland and non-EU country Norway—the same group Malta should have joined back in May 2024 to recognise Palestine—when contemplating action against Israel. 

Until this happens, Abela and Borg can spare us the words of pity and sorrow; they can stop moralising on how their hearts bleed over the death of children in Gaza. They can instead join the rest of their European counterparts taking turns in ‘keeping a close watch’ on Israel.